Lya's Story
by M. L. Ayala
Summary: When a girl from Earth is accidently transported to Hyrule and is saved by a certain blue-eyed swordsman, an adventure is inevitable, especially when the Dark Lord decides to try to use her in his plans to destroy Hyrule.
1. Prologue

Alright, I'd have to say that this is probably the best story that I've written so far. So please let me know what you all think of it. It takes a few chapters to actually get to Hyrule, but it does eventually get there, I promise, lol.

Song Lyrics for this chapter: "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days

Prologue

_How many days in a year?_

_She woke up with hope but she only found tears._

_And I can be so insincere,_

_Making her promises never for real_

My story starts off like any other one. My life was a train wreck, nothing was ever going right. I don't know why everything ended up the way it did for me. But I guess sometimes you just have to make the best of things.

I was 23 years old, living a few minutes away from a big city. I had a little apartment all to myself, which was nice, I guess. I never kept a job for very long, so I pretty much did whatever work came my way.

When this story starts, I was working as a waitress for a small restaurant just inside the city limits.

_This is the story of a girl,_

_Who cried a river and drowned the whole world,_

_And while she looked so said in photographs,_

_I absolutely love her,_

_When she smiles…_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Everyone keeps talking,_

_They promise you everything,_

_They don't mean anything_

"Lya!" screamed my boss as I stumbled into the restaurant a few minutes later than usual and quickly tied on an apron. "Where have you been? There are people waiting for their food!" She shoved two plates at me gave me a glare that told me I was on thin ice this morning.

"Sorry Ms. West, it won't happen again," I said meekly as I took off to serve the only two people in the restaurant their breakfast. When I got over to their table I saw that they were laughing quietly at me.

"You better watch out, or you'll lose another job," my best friend, Hannah, whispered as I set her plate down in front of her.

"Leave her alone," my cousin, Steven, said as I gave them both an annoyed look, "it's not her fault that her car broke down. Again." he added as he examined my hair, which was even more frizzy and unkempt than usual. "Ran to work again, I see."

"I didn't have much of a choice. If I had taken the bus I would still be waiting for it, and if I had been a few seconds later I would have been fired." I sighed as I flopped down in a chair between the two of them. "Besides, it's not that far…"

"Yeah, well let's hope you never get a job any farther in the city, I'd hate to see what you would look like if you had to run through all that traffic," he said as he chuckled softly.

"Ha ha, very funny," I said as I gave him a playful shove, "look guys, it's nice to see you here, but I've got to get back to work," I looked to make sure that Ms. West wasn't paying attention before I added, "before the Wicked Witch decides to do something to me." They both burst out laughing.

"You know we only come here to see you," Hannah said, "Definitely not for the food. It's awful." she said as she looked down at her plate.

"What did you order?" I asked as I considered the heap of….something on her plate.

"It was supposed to be pancakes," Steven said, then looked down at his own plate, "but I'm not so sure…it looks like…" he trailed off as he gave the 'pancakes' another look, "you know what, I think I'm going to skip breakfast this morning." He pushed the plate across the table with his fork.

Hannah and I giggled at his expression, and then Ms. West started screeching at me to take the other customers orders. I hadn't realized that a few more people had come in and sat down. I waved good-bye to Steven and Hannah and went back to work.

Every time I sat a plate of 'pancakes' down in front of someone they looked at me like I was trying to poison them. I felt sorry for them, but hey, Ms. West had taken over the kitchen that morning, there was nothing I could do to improve the cooking. Not that I could have done much better…

It was almost seven o'clock, and I had been working for close to ten hours straight. The other waitress had shown up at noon, but Ms. West had told her she could go home after only an hour. I swear, she was just waiting for an excuse to fire me. She knew that the restaurant didn't get busy until after three, and I couldn't handle the crowd all by myself.

I was rushing back and forth between the tables, taking people's orders, carrying food to the tables, running back into the kitchen every time the smoke alarm went off (which was every ten minutes). So it was no surprise that when I was carrying out a particularly large plate, I tripped and fell, and my face ended up in the customer's dinner.

"LYA!" I sat up and turned back toward the kitchen. Ms. West stood in the doorway, and her face was as red as mine, except hers wasn't covered in spaghetti sauce. "YOU ARE FIRED!" she screeched. I stood up and threw the stupid apron I had been wearing on the floor.

"Fine! Just give me my paycheck and you'll never see me again!" I cried as she stood seething.

"You lazy bum! I won't give you a penny, and I'll see to it that you never work in a restaurant in this city again!" she started to come towards me, and I realized that she was still holding a knife. I don't know what she planned to do, but I didn't want to stay and find out. I took off running out of there faster than I had ever run in my life.

When I finally slowed down enough to see where I was, I found myself outside of Steven's apartment building. He was walking towards the door when he saw me. "Lost another job?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I looked down at my shoes.

He sighed, and looked at my face, which was still covered in spaghetti sauce. "Come get cleaned up and I'll take you home."

"Thanks," I said as I followed him inside.

_Say goodbye, these days are gone,_

_And we can't keep holding on,_

_When all we need is some relief,_

_Through these hard times_

Song Lyrics: "These Hard Times" by Matchbox Twenty


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews guys :) The chapters will be getting longer here soon, once the story picks up a little bit.

Chapter 2

_Fumbling his confidence _

_And wondering why the world has passed him by,_

_Hoping that he's bent for more than arguments,_

_And failed attempts to fly, fly_

Two days later, I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. I had found another job, delivering packages throughout the city from a small business that supplied various items. They hadn't told me specifically what I was delivering, and I hadn't asked. I got dressed and headed out to the bus stop. My car was really messed up, and I didn't have the money to get it fixed yet. I really needed this job to work out, and not just because of my car. I was a few months behind on my apartment, and I had been living on peanut butter and crackers for quite a while now.

I looked at my watch as I walked to the bus stop. _Not good_, I thought, _I can't be late on my first day…_ I started running, and when I got to the bus stop, it was nowhere in sight. _This isn't fair!_ Just as I was considering how far it was to my new job, a car pulled up in front of me.

"Need a lift?" Hannah asked as she unlocked her car door.

"Thank you so much!" I said as I jumped into the passenger's seat.

"Where are you headed today?" she asked as she pulled away from the curb. I told her the address and she nodded as she headed in that direction. "So what's the new job?" she inquired curiously.

"Delivery girl," I said enthusiastically.

"Wow, you actually sound excited about this one," she said skeptically.

"Well, it's better than the last one."

"True, but how are you supposed to deliver stuff without a car?"

"Um, I'm still working on that…" She smiled, like she knew that I was going to say that.

"Just be careful," she said as she pulled up in front of the address that I had given her. "And try not to lose this one!" she added cheerily.

I could always count on my friends joking about my constant change of jobs. They knew it wasn't my fault, and they had offered to help me out a few times, but it didn't change the fact that I was clumsy, uncoordinated, and somewhat forgetful.

I smiled and headed into the building.

Over the next few hours, I took the bus or walked to different parts of the city, delivering packages. Towards the end of the day I was feeling really good, and headed back to the building to make sure they didn't have anything else for me to deliver. When I turned the corner, I saw three police cars and a bunch of cops swarming around the building.

I joined the group of people who were trying to see what was going on. As the police dragged out my new boss and the other two people who worked with him in the building, I heard them talking about how those three were drug dealers.

_Wait, what? I was working for drug dealers? I can't believe this! _Just as I was thinking this, one of them caught sight of me in the crowd.

"Hey! She one of us too!" he shouted as he pointed at me. All of the cops turned to look at me. "She's the one who delivers the stuff!" Before I knew it a pair of policemen were pulling me towards a car.

"Wait wait!" I cried out, "I didn't know!"

"That's what they all say," one of them said as the closed the car door and went back to the other three guys, who were putting up a fight.

_Well this is just great_, I thought as I sat there fuming, _I can't wait to hear what Hannah and Steven have to say about this one_.

It turns out that after a few hours at the police station, they realized that I was telling the truth, and after I gave them all of the addresses that I had been to that day, they let me go.

Hannah and Steven were waiting for me when I got home.

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

"We saw you on the news and we went to the station, but they told us to wait for you here. Are you sure that you're alright?"

I waited for them to calm down some before I answered their questions, and then they insisted that I let them find me a new job. I sighed and agreed. It's impossible to win an argument with them anyway.

By the next morning, it was agreed that I would go to work with Hannah, who gave private violin lessons to a few people throughout the city. I was supposed to be looking for a job while I was with her. I guess they didn't feel safe letting me pick another job by myself, but it's not like I got hired by a drug dealer on purpose.

_Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open,_

_Maybe we're bent and broken, broken_

_We were meant to live for so much more,_

_Have we lost ourselves?_

Song Lyrics: "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_I close both locks below the window,_

_I close both blinds and turn away,_

_Sometimes solutions aren't so simple,_

_Sometimes goodbye's the only way_

I spent the next few days job hunting under Hannah and Steven's supervision. It was actually kind of fun following them around all day long. I found out how horrible Hannah's students were, and I learned to keep a pair of earplugs with me for when they were practicing, but I always listened while Hannah was playing.

I learned how much fun it was to be a newspaper reporter while I was with Steven. He wrote for the city newspaper, and we would go around searching for good stories all day long, even though we were supposed to be searching for a job for me. We went to every part of the city, and to a lot of places outside of the city.

After five days of looking, we still couldn't find a decent job for me. I was ready to give up, we had searched everywhere, and even though there were openings, my reputation had spread from my previous jobs. No one wanted to hire me.

On the sixth day, it was Steven's turn to babysit me. They kept insisting that that's not what they were doing, but honestly, there's no other word for it. Someone had tipped the newspaper that there were some odd noises and strange creatures appearing a few hours south of the city, so that's where we were headed. We both doubted the stories, but it was a chance to escape the hectic settings of the city and replace them with the calm and soothing scenes of the countryside. He, Hannah and I had all grown up in rural and suburban areas, and sometimes we liked to get away and visit a quieter place.

As we were nearing the area where these strange sightings were taking place, the scenery changed from fields to a large forest. We parked on the side of the road and made our way down a narrow trail that wound through the forest.

The farther in we got, the more things started to look like we might have been wrong to doubt those stories. We found the remains of several small animals that looked like they had been torn apart. I was starting to feel nervous, but I wasn't about to turn back. I always hated to leave a mystery unsolved, even if it was something as simple as figuring out what animal was responsible for these events.

A few minutes later, we heard a rustling in the brush off to our right, and then some screeching and hissing. We turned to see what was coming towards us, and saw a small group of lizards coming toward us. That wouldn't have been very alarming if they had been regular lizards, but these were at least as tall as I was, and they walked on two legs while carrying swords. I gasped and turned to look at Steven, but he was already pulling me down and farther along the trail before the lizards could see us.

He shoved me in front of him and whispered, "I think I saw someone back there, I'm going to check it out," then he turned and crept back along the path. "Keep going, and don't look back," he added over his shoulder. I wanted to follow him, but the look he gave me made me feel like I would rather face a hundred of those sword carrying lizards than suffer the consequences of disobeying him.

I was only a few feet farther on the path when Steven's voice reached me again. "Lya, RUN!" He shouted as I heard something large running up the path behind me. I turned around to see where Steven was, but all I could see was another group of those lizards coming towards me. I spun around and took off running as fast as I could. I wasn't even paying attention to where I was going, and I ran off the path and couldn't find it again. I fought my way through the bushes and trees, but the farther I went, the closer those things got to me.

The trees and bushes thinned out around me, and before I knew it I was running towards a small cliff. I couldn't stop myself in time, and I tumbled down the steep slope, and into a group of bushes at the bottom. I guess the lizards gave up after that, because I didn't hear them come down the slope. I peeked through the bushes, and looked around. When I was sure that there wasn't anything around me, I started crawling away from the cliff.

I had been wandering around for what felt like hours, and I was hopelessly lost. After a while I stopped crawling and just kept a wary eye out for anything weird. I was exhausted, and I was on the verge of tears. I had no idea what had happened to Steven, and I couldn't find my way back to where I had last seen him. Even if I could have, he probably wouldn't still be there.

I had to stop abruptly when I came to a small clearing. In the center was a dark, swirling portal. There was nothing else around it, and even though I knew I shouldn't have, but I walked toward it. I felt drawn to it for some reason. I looked at it, and started to step closer, but I pulled back and looked around.

_What am I doing?_ I thought, _I have a life here, and friends, and I have no idea what this thing does. Sure it could send me somewhere else, or it could kill me._ I backed away slowly, and I was almost to the edge of the clearing, about to leave, when I stopped. _My life's a wreck, why should I go back? Maybe this is my chance to find better things…_

I strode up to the portal, and turned around to look at my surroundings. A few tears rolled down my face as I stepped through the portal and left my life behind.

_Put cards and flowers on your window,_

_Your friends all plead for you to stay,_

_Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple,_

_Sometimes goodbye's the only way_

_Song Lyrics: "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park_


	5. Chapter 4

Now we're getting to the good part :)

Chapter 4

_Just because I'm hurting, _

_Doesn't mean I'm hurt,_

_Doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserve,_

_No better and no worse_

When I woke up and looked around, I had no idea where I was. I was surrounded by trees, but there wasn't as many as there had been in the forest that the portal had been in, and where Steven….no, I refused to think about what could have happened to him. Right now I needed to find people and figure out what was going on. I started walking, and I soon came to the edge of the woods. What I saw beyond them took my breath away.

Large rolling plains started at the edge of the forest, and several miles further a mountain range stretching up. To my left I saw a large castle, with a town surrounding it, and to my right was a smaller village. A river came down from the mountains and led towards the castle. The color of everything was so much more vivid that anything I had ever seen, and it was beautiful.

I started to walk towards the castle. I figured that I had a better chance of finding someone who could help me there than in the sleepy little village, even though it was closer. As I walked farther away from the forest, I heard a loud cawing noise behind me. I turned around to see what it was, and saw a huge … _thing_ coming at me. It looked like a pterodactyl, but that was impossible. As I stood watching it, several more showed up, and then they flew straight at me, cawing and screeching. I was sure that I was hallucinating, but then I remembered the sword carrying lizards, and I took off running.

I screamed as one of them swooped down and grabbed my hair with its claws. It was trying to lift me off the ground and fly away while the others pecked at me and tried to take me for themselves. Before they had gotten me more than a few feet off the ground, an arrow zipped through the air and hit the one that was holding me up in the chest. It let go of me and fell to the ground.

Since the others were still fighting over me, I didn't touch the ground again until all of the others had been shot as well. When the last one was dead, I hit the ground and had the wind knocked out of me. I gasped and tried to stand up, but all I did was get entangled in the bodies of all of the creatures. I closed my eyes and tried not to scream again.

I heard hoof beats, and then someone had a hold of my hand and pulled me up. They carried me a little ways away from the pile of creatures, and set me down on the ground gently.

"Are you alright?" I opened my eyes and saw a young man kneeling next to me. He had a look of concern in his bright blue eyes. I guess I was still in shock, or something, because I couldn't talk. It had nothing to do with that fact that I was face to face with one of the cutest guys I had ever seen. Nothing at all.

"Uh, um," I blinked and looked away, "yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because you got pretty beat up…" he said as he gestured at all of the cuts and bruises I had gotten from the creatures fighting over me.

"Yeah, I'll be okay, just a little sore for the next few days," I said with a wry smile. "What were those things, anyway?" I asked as I looked back at the creatures.

"Just more of Ganondorf's monsters," he said as he pushed his dark blonde hair away from his face, "C'mon, we should get out of here before more show up."

"M-more?" I squeaked.

"Yeah…" he said slowly as he looked at me, "there are a lot of them around here."

"Is there anything else? Like, sword carrying lizards, and stuff like that?"

"Lizalfos? Not here, but there are some closer to the castle." I gulped and looked around nervously. "You're not from around here, are you?" He asked curiously.

"No. I don't even know where here is," I said as I stood up slowly. He cocked his head as he considered me. The look he gave me wasn't very friendly, like he was trying to decide whether or not I was a threat. "Look, all I know is that I was lost in the woods, and I found a portal. I didn't really have any other options, so I went through it. The next thing I knew, I woke up back in those woods, and then I was being attacked by those things," I said pointing at the creatures, "I have no idea why I was sent here."

His expression softened, and he smiled a little bit. "Okay, okay, take it easy, I believe you." He turned around and walked to his horse, which was a large, red Clydesdale. He leapt up into the saddle easily, and then offered me a hand up. "I'll give you a ride to the castle, and then we'll talk to Princess Zelda and see if she has any ideas about what's happened."

"Okay," I said as he pulled me up into the saddle behind him.

"What's your name?"

"Lya."

"I'm Link."

_I just got lost,_

_Every river that I tried to cross,_

_Every door I ever tried was locked,_

_Oh, and I'm just waiting 'til the shine wears off_

_Song Lyrics: "Lost!" by Coldplay_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Forgetting all I'm lacking,_

_Completely incomplete,_

_I'll take your invitation,_

_You take all of me now…_

After a few minutes of awkward silence on our way to the castle, Link started telling me all kinds of things. He had a good sense of humor, and told me all kinds of jokes and rumors about some of the inhabitants of Castle Town. His cheery mood helped me to relax and stop worrying about everything so much.

He was a knight, but a different type than any of the ones that I might run into in Castle Town. I laughed as he told me about the knights that hung around the castle. They were mostly all just guards, but Link was a Knight of the Realms.

When I asked him what that meant, he told me that he traveled around different kingdoms to make sure that everything was peaceful. He was very modest when he started to tell me about some of his adventures, and I had to keep asking questions before I could get him to tell me something more interesting than the times that he settled quarrels between people. He surprised me with the variety and extensiveness of his adventures.

"You really went up against a whole group of those lizard things all by yourself?" I asked him in awe.

He blushed a little as he said, "It was really no big deal, and they're nothing compared to some of the other things I've faced."

He wasn't boasting, the way a lot of people would have if they'd been able to say that, he said it like he was just stating a fact. I liked that about him. Even though he could have told me all about the things that he had done, he focused more on the people who had helped him and told me about how great they had been.

By the time we had reached Castle Town, Link had told me about so many different things but I couldn't think of a single thing to tell him about myself. I wanted to impress him, but there was nothing in my life that could even come close to some of the things that he had just told me.

He jumped down off his horse's back and helped me down. "Wait here, Epona," he said as he gave the horse a pat and walked off without tying it up to anything or putting it in a pen.

"Wait, won't it run away if you don't tie it up?" I asked as I followed him.

"She," he said putting a slight emphasis on the word, "won't go anywhere. She's very well trained." He started walking into Castle Town and gestured for me to follow.

We passed so many shops on the way to the castle, with so many colors and fragrances, that I felt light-headed, and it occurred to me that I hadn't had anything to eat for who knows how long. Link caught me staring longingly into a small bakery, and smiled as he told me to wait outside for a minute. When he came back he had two small loaves of bread and offered one to me.

"Thanks," I said as I took it. He just nodded and led me to a large fountain in the middle of a section of town just a little ways in front of the castle. We sat there and watched people rush by as we ate.

I was still trying to think of something to talk to him about as we entered the castle a little while later. We went through elaborately decorated hallways and rooms, until we reached a small garden that must have been at the very back of the castle. There was a small fountain in the center, and a beautiful young woman stood watching a few birds playing in the water.

She had hair a few shades lighter than Link's, and her eyes were a lighter shade of blue. She turned and smiled when she saw Link, but when she caught sight of me her smile quickly turned into a frown.

"Who's this?" she asked stiffly. _Whoa_, I thought, _someone's jealous of me spending time with Link… _

"I'm Lya," I said as I stepped forward. She looked at my clothes, which weren't in the best shape on account of the pterodactyl things that had attacked me earlier. Then she looked at my hair with a slightly disgusted expression. Okay, fine, I looked a little mangy, but she didn't have to give me a look that harsh.

"She not from around here, Zel," he said, completely oblivious of the staring match that she and I were having.

"I'm aware of that much," she said, "Why did you bring her here?"

"I thought you might be able to help her figure out how she got here. She's not entirely sure about what happened, and I think if the three of us put our heads together we'll be able to figure out what's going on."

She looked like that was the last thing she wanted to do, but she must have realized that if she didn't agree Link probably would have left and tried to find someone the issue of how I got there. She gave me another glare, then said, "Alright, but first we'll have to find her some…_proper_ clothing." Oh, so she didn't like my jeans and t-shirt? What was she going to do, try to put me in a dress? Nuh-uh. Not going to happen. I don't care if that's the only way that I'm going to get some answers, there is absolutely no way that she's going to get me to wear a dress. "I think I have a dress that might suit her. Come, Lya."

_Darn it! _But there was no getting out of it, so I followed her up to her room, where she watched as I took a bath (_can't a girl have some privacy?_) and then picked out a fancy dress for me to wear, but it wasn't nearly as fancy as some of the others that she had. In fact, it looked like it was the plainest one there, so I decided to keep my mouth shut and not complain. _Answers_, I thought, _after this I'll get some answers…_

_Desperate for changing,_

_Starving for truth,_

_I'm closer to where I started,_

_Chasing after you…_

_Song Lyrics: "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_One minute I held the key,_

_Next the walls were closed on me,_

_And I discovered that my castles stand,_

_Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand_

I sat on a stone bench in the garden where Link had taken me to see Zelda. I was sulking for a few reasons, the first of which was the fact that Zelda had insisted on talking to Link where I couldn't overhear them. It was obvious that she didn't trust me. When we had gotten back to where Link was waiting for us, she ran up to him and asked to have a word alone with him. Then she had turned and ordered me not to move from that bench.

Another reason that I was in a bad mood was that stupid dress. The whole time we had been coming down the stairs from Zelda's room, I had been tripping over the long skirt. Not only that, but I could barely breathe. Who knew there were places on Earth that still demanded that women wear corsets? Even after all of the strange things that I had seen, I was convinced that I had just been transported somewhere else on the planet. I wasn't sure where, exactly, but that was the only thing I could think of.

But those things weren't bothering me as much as this last thing. I knew that I had seen this place before. And these people, they all looked familiar. But that was crazy….I had never been anywhere like this before. Still, there was something about Link, and Zelda too, that was bothering me. _I __know__ I've seen them before…_

While I was pondering this, they came back. Link sat down on the bench next to me, and look on Zelda's face was absolutely _priceless_. She stood in front of us and glared down at me. I guess she thought that since she was royalty I should have jumped up and offered her my seat. But hey, she was the one who had ordered me not to move…

After a few seconds of glaring at me, she realized that I wasn't moving, so she said, "Why don't we go inside while we discuss your situation, Lya."

"No thanks, I like it out here," I said sweetly as I smiled up at her.

"Fine." She sat down on the edge of the fountain and arranged her long, extensive skirt around her. _Oh please_, _I thought, is she really that desperate to get attention from him?_ "Please inform us of your dilemma," she tried to sound interested, but it was obvious that the only reason she was still sitting there was because Link was there.

"Okay," I said and began my story. When I got to the part where Steven had yelled for me to run, tears started rolling down my face (they were only a _little bit_ fake, I'm not really one to cry about stuff) and I had to stop talking for a few minutes. Link put an arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. It was only the type one friend would give to another friend, but Zelda looked like she was about to explode, which might have been what I intended….it was fun to toy with her obvious crush on Link. I kept an eye on her expression, and when it looked like she couldn't handle anymore, I stopped crying and went on with my story. When I finished, Link sat thinking about everything that I had told them for a little bit, but Zelda didn't seem to care at all.

"So you saw lizalfos in this forest, but you had never seen them before that?" he asked me, and I nodded.

"I'd like to know where she came from, if she's never seen a lizalfo before," Zelda said sharply, "there isn't a place in Hyrule that hasn't suffered from their raids."

I gasped and my eyes widened as she said Hyrule. _No, that's impossible…_ I looked back and forth between her and Link, who were both staring at me, Link with concern and Zelda with scorn. _Zelda…The Legend of Zelda…oh my god, I'm in a video game…_

"What is it, Lya?" Link asked since I hadn't made a noise since I had gasped.

"I…I'm sorry, I just realized that…none of this is real," I said as I stood up quickly and walked off a few steps. I turned around and saw that both of them were looking at me with confused expressions. "Hyrule is a fictional place, which means that everything that happened in the forest with Steven and me, and then the portal, and everything after that has just been a dream. None of this is real. So I'm just asleep, I never left my apartment, and I'm going to wake up any second now."

"That's ridiculous," Zelda said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and laughed cruelly at me. "She's obviously delusional," she said to Link, "we should turn her over to the doctor in Castle Town and let him worry about her." But Link wasn't listening to her.

"Tell about where you come from," he said as he leaned toward me.

So I told him. I told him everything about anything that I could think of. Zelda just sat sulking at how easily I held his attention when she had such trouble at it. I didn't care, and for once I wasn't thinking about messing with her, and her obsession with Link.

The longer I talked, the more I realized that this couldn't be a dream, it was too real. The scrapes and bruises I had gotten earlier were hurting terribly, and the dress that Zelda had made me wear just made them worse. And as the sun started to go down the temperature dropped noticeably. The details of this place were too intense for it to be a dream.

I finally had to stop to catch my breath. When I looked up at the sky it was almost dark. _Wow, have I really been talking for that long?_ I looked at Link and Zelda, and had to try not to laugh. Zelda was fast asleep, and Link was about to fall off the bench he was sitting on, he was leaning so far forward. I guess what I had said really interested him.

"Do you think we should wake Zelda up?" I asked him. He turned and looked at Zelda. He looked at me, then up at the sky.

"Yeah, I guess so." He shook her slightly, and she jumped up and looked around. Her hair was sticking out at slight angles. I had to try to keep from laughing. "Zelda, it's getting late, so I'm going to go."

"It was nice meeting you," I said to Zelda and I started to walk away.

"Wait, Lya," Link said, "You should stay here."

"WHAT?" Zelda and I screamed at the same time.

"It would be best if you stayed here at the castle," he said as he stood up and walked past me. "I'll be back tomorrow. But I think I'm going to see if I can find any information about this portal that brought you here." He smiled at me as he waved good bye. He didn't even look back at Zelda.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead the moment that he was out of sight. Zelda looked like she was considering every possible and painful way to murder me. I was starting to regret some of the stuff that I had done earlier…

_For some reason I can't explain,_

_Once you go there was never,_

_Never an honest word,_

_And that was when I ruled the world_

_Song Lyrics: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay_


	8. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate it :)

I tried to give Zelda's character a little bit more depth later in the story (I'm talking like after chapter 20...) but to be honest, I have way too much fun writing her as the shallow jealous b****, lol.

Chapter 7

_Pictures of you, pictures of me,_

_Hung up on your wall for the world to see,_

_Pictures of you, pictures of me,_

_Remind us all of what we used to be_

Zelda gave me a room just down the hallway from hers. It was luxurious, to say the least. I was a little bit uneasy at first, but after she left I relaxed and decided to try and enjoy myself. I got one of the maids to help me take off that stupid dress, since it was so tight I couldn't get it off by myself. It felt like it had been sewn on, and it would surprise me if it really had been.

I asked the maid if she could find me something simpler, and she gave me a very plain dress, with no decorations at all, a straight skirt which didn't quite reach the floor, and best of all, it didn't have a corset. I thanked her and let her go back to her normal duties.

After she had been gone a few minutes, I peeked out the door, and made sure that no one was around. When I didn't see anyone, I left my room and started to wander around to castle. It was pretty late, so I didn't run into very many people, and if I did see someone they were servants, so they didn't say anything about my exploring the castle without permission. Actually, Zelda had 'requested' that I stay in my room, which may have been why I didn't, but like I've said before, I can't leave anything unsolved, and I was sure that this castle had some mysteries hidden in it somewhere.

I had been wandering around for about half an hour, when I came to a portrait gallery. I stayed there for a while, looking at all of the paintings. The paintings were of all of the generations of the royal family. When I came to the last portrait in the room, I saw Zelda when she was about 5 years old, standing next to her father, King Daltus, and her mother.

At this point I was using all of my knowledge of the video game series to help me understand things here, and I had never seen Zelda's mother mentioned in any of the games that I could remember. I tried to find something around the painting that might tell me her name, and I found a plague beneath the painting. The queen's name had been scratched out.

I don't know why it bothered me so much, but I wanted to know what the queen's name had been. Maybe it was because she had a much more pleasant expression than her daughter. I sighed and looked back up at the painting again.

"What are you doing here?" a deep voice boomed behind me. I spun around and saw the king standing in the doorway.

I curtsied awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I was just exploring –"

He seemed to relax as he looked at me again, "You're the girl that Link brought here, aren't you? No need to answer, I can see that you're not from around here. My daughter was telling me about you." I looked at him nervously. What had Zelda told him? "But, she does have a tendency to over react a little." He smiled slightly and noticed which portrait I was standing in front of. "Ah, I see you found the only remaining picture of my wife."

I nodded respectfully, then turned to look back at the painting. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, what was her name?"

"Zaria. Her name was Zaria."

"Did something happen to her?"

He hesitated before answering, "Er, yes, you could say that." I looked over my shoulder at him, and decided not to ask anymore. The memory was clearly painful for him. "You said you were exploring the castle?" I smiled and nodded. "Would you like a tour, or do you want to continue on your own?"

"A tour would be great!" I said as I followed him out of the portrait room.

Over the next hour and a half or so, he showed me all over the castle. There were so many rooms and hallways, I'm glad I didn't try to explore it all by myself; I would have been lost in an instant. There were more portraits, but none of them were of the queen. I gave up on finding out anything else about her at that time.

After King Daltus finished showing me around, he gave me directions back to my room. When I passed Zelda's room, the door was open. I peeked in without her seeing me, and saw that she was looking at a small portrait. She put it in a box on her desk and turned towards the door. I turned and ran to my room, and glanced out into the hallway. She left her room and headed downstairs.

I knew that I shouldn't, but I had to see who that portrait was of. I snuck into her room and opened the box. Sitting among some little knick-knacks that Zelda must have saved from her childhood, was a black and white photograph of her mother. I closed the box and left the room quietly, and decided that I would try to be a little bit nicer to her from now on.

_Pictures of you, pictures of me,_

_Remind us all of what we could have been_

_Could have been, we could have been_

_Song Lyrics: "Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight_


	9. Chapter 8

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate it :)

Chapter 8

_I'm alright,_

_Nobody worry 'bout me,_

_Why you got to gimme a fight?_

_Can't you just let it be?_

Link didn't show up right away the next morning the way that I thought he would. Alright, fine, I'll admit it; I was hoping that he would come early. He was a more interesting companion than Zelda, who refused to acknowledge my existence unless she absolutely had to. The only thing she would talk to me about was my wardrobe. When I asked for pants and a shirt, she gasped and refused to even consider it. She tried to force me to wear another ridiculous dress, and we had a little bit of a fight … and, well … she stopped trying to make me wear dresses.

"Zelda what happened?" Link asked when he saw her black eye. Hey, don't get mad at me, she deserved it.

"Oh, there was a monster that broke into the castle this morning," _What?_ "I stopped it before it could hurt our new friend here." She smiled fondly at me. _Oh, so that's how you wanna do this…_

"Yes," I said smiling back at her, "I don't know what would have happened if Zelda hadn't stopped the" my voice turned cynical, "little lap dog that attacked me this morning. It tried to lick me to death." Zelda gave me another one of her poison glares while Link was laughing. "So," I said as I turned to Link, "did you find any information on the portal that brought me here?"

"I think so," his expression turned serious, "some of the people who survived a lizalfo raid a few days ago heard them talking about a way to another world that is untouched by anything in this world."

"Wait, Link," Zelda said, "lizalfos can't talk." she said slowly, like she didn't think that he knew that.

"I'm aware of that Zelda, but that what these people told me. And there are some that _can_ talk. I've come across a few that knew a few words. Just because most of them can't speak our language doesn't mean that there aren't some who can." Zelda looked away. I can't say that I felt sorry for her.

"Sooooooo, what does that mean?" I asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think we might figure some things out faster if you helped me."

Zelda looked up at me, and I knew that if I agreed to go with him she would do everything she could to make me suffer.

"That's a great idea, Link," I said, "let's go!"

He nodded and led me out of the castle before Zelda could say anything. _This is too much fun,_ I thought as I followed Link through Castle Town, _if Zelda would loosen up some I might lay off, but since she keeps this up, I have to mess with her._

"You could be a bit nicer to Zelda," Link said quietly as we walked up to his horse. He was adjusting something on her saddle, and I walked up to her head and stared into her intelligent brown eyes.

"She could be a bit nicer to me, too," I said as I ran my hand down the horse's face gently.

Link sighed and nodded slightly. "She shouldn't have tried to make you wear another dress like the one yesterday. Especially since you told her that you didn't like it. But you didn't have to hit her."

"Wait, how did you know about that?"

"One of maids told me about it."

"Oh," I looked over at him, and saw that he had taken a brush and a comb out of one of the saddle bags.

"Comb Epona's mane for me?"

"Sure." I took the comb and stood working out the tangles that had formed in the horse's mane. She turned and looked at me, and I swear, it was like she was laughing at me. I relaxed a little bit, and kept combing her mane until it felt like silk. By that time Link was done brushing her, and he helped me up into the saddle behind him.

We rode out past the little town that I had seen my first day here and just kept going. I didn't ask where we were headed; I was much too busy watching the colorful landscape fly by around us. Once we got to a small settlement on the edge of a forest, we stopped and had lunch and let Epona rest. We also talked to a few of the villagers, but none of them were much help.

One did mention that he had seen a group of lizalfos heading towards the mountains, but he hadn't known who to tell, since not many people had been able to stop them. We thanked him and headed that way.

"Lya, once we get closer to the mountains, I'm going to find a village for you to stay in."

"What? Why?" I cried out. "I thought you needed me to help you."

"I do, but I don't want you to get hurt, so I have to go by myself."

"What makes you think anything would happen to me?" I asked stubbornly. He looked over his should at me, and gave a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "Okay, so I didn't do so good when those things attacked me yesterday, but that was just because they took me by surprise!"

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" he said.

"I was hoping you would…"

He sighed and looked away for an instant. "Do you know how to fight?"

"Sort of…"

"No 'sort of.' Either you do or you don't, and I think we both know that you don't."

"You could teach me," I said quietly.

He groaned, and looked at me with pleading eyes. I kept my stubborn expression. "I've known you for barely 24 hours, and you're already becoming a pain. But I guess if I don't teach you you'll get someone else to. So, I guess I can teach you a few things."

I grinned and threw my head back as I shouted "Yes!"

Link looked like he knew he was going to regret this, but he smiled and shook his head at my enthusiasm. He spent the next two days teaching me how to use a sword, and by the end of the last day, I felt comfortable enough to face up against a few of those lizalfos. So long as Link was somewhere nearby. Link still looked like he wasn't sure I was ready, but he didn't say anything, and we headed up the mountain.

_It's your life,_

_And isn't it a mystery_

_If it's nobody's business,_

_It's everybody's game_

_Song Lyrics: "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins_


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Who doesn't know what I'm talking about,_

_Who's never left home, who's never struck out,_

_To find a dream and a life of their own,_

_A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone_

We didn't find anything worth mentioning in the mountains. Just pain and destruction caused by Ganondorf's monsters. Link and Zelda had been working to get rid of the Dark Lord for some time, but their efforts didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Link took me to the little village that I had seen on my first day in Hyrule. His grandmother lived there, and he introduced me to her. She was a very sweet lady, and we got along very well. She offered me the spare room in her house, since I didn't have a place of my own, and I gladly accepted her offer. I think Link liked this arrangement better than me staying at the castle, and he made sure to stop by everyday to see how I was doing, but he had work to do, and he could only stay for a little while each time.

The spring weather was nice during the day, but it turned chilly at night. Sometimes the villagers would have a bonfire, and that was always fun. I settled into my new life easily, and I didn't regret being there. But sometimes I would find myself wondering about my friends. I was still concerned about what had happened to Steven, but at that point it seemed that I might never know what had happed to him. Thinking about that would always put me in a bad mood, and I would go off by myself a lot. Link found me on one of those days.

I was sitting in a small clearing in the woods, staring listlessly at the ground, when he came up behind me.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he put a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and had to fight back a scream, I hadn't heard him at all. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he sat down next to me and tilted my face up so that he could look into my eyes. "Tell me what's bothering you, please."

"I…" tears started forming in my eyes (_unlike the ones in the garden, these were __not__ fake!_) "I just really miss my friends." I started sobbing softly as he pulled me to him and gave me a hug.

We sat like that for a long time, him holding me and me sobbing into his shoulder. When I finally stopped crying, I started to push away from him, but then I changed my mind. I settled my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. He just smiled and didn't say anything.

After that day, I would go to that spot if I was feeling homesick, and he would always show up, even if he wasn't anywhere near the village, somehow he just knew. We had become very close friends in a short amount of time, and I had a little bit of a crush on him. I think he liked me back, but I wasn't sure, and I never asked him, just in case he didn't. I didn't want things to be awkward between us.

Gradually the homesickness faded, and I didn't really feel it anymore. I felt like Hyrule was my home, and I was glad that I had gone there. My life had improved so dramatically that sometimes I still considered the possibility that I was dreaming. But eventually I stopped thinking about that, too.

I learned all kinds of things from the people there, and I was able to teach them some things, too. I found all kinds of opportunities, but none of them were what I really wanted to do. I wanted to travel with Link, and help him try to restore peace to Hyrule. But he was too stubborn to even consider it. He kept telling me that he didn't want me to get hurt, and I kept telling him that I wouldn't.

Eventually he gave in, just like I knew he would. I always got my way when I asked him for something.

_Many precede and many will follow,_

_A young girl's dreams no longer hollow,_

_It takes the shape of a place out west,_

_But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed_

_Song Lyrics: "Wide Open Spaces" by Dixie Chicks_


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Does anybody know what's going on?_

_Can anybody tell me where we went wrong?_

_Can anyone say why wrong is right?_

_If we want a little peace well we got to fight_

We traveled all over Hyrule, and I got to see so many things that I had never even dreamed of before. Everything was relatively peaceful, and Ganondorf's monsters were seen less often. Link had started to think that maybe we were winning the battle against him, but I wasn't so sure. I hadn't met the guy in person, but from everything that I knew about him from the games, I knew that he usually had something tricky up his sleeve.

About a month after I had started traveling with Link, we were headed to a village high up in the mountains. Even though it was summertime, there was snow on the ground in the area of the mountains where we were headed. We had left Epona at the base of the mountain, and we were hiking up to the village. When we were about halfway there, a freezing wind started up, and before we knew it, a blizzard had blown up around us.

Link found a small cave in the mountainside, where we made a fire and settled down to wait out the storm. The temperature dropped, and it had to have been below 0° Fahrenheit. I was shivering terribly, even though I had on a heavy coat and boots. Link seemed to be doing better than I was; he was only shivering a little bit. I was sitting as close to the fire as I could get.

"Lya, you need to back up some, or your coat will catch on fire," Link warned me.

"N-n-n-no it w-w-won't," I was so cold, I would have sat in the fire if I could have.

"Lya, please back up just a little bit, you're making me nervous," he pleaded.

"S-s-s-stop w-w-w-worrying s-so m-much, nothing's g-g-going to h-happen." As I said that, the sleeve of my jacket brushed up against one of the embers in the fire and the flames raced up my arm. I shrieked as I jumped back, and Link tried to put the fire out. It had spread too quickly, and he jerked the coat off me before it actually burned me. He managed to put the fire out, and he held my coat up to see how damaged it was. The whole sleeve and part of the back were burned black, and the sleeve had some holes burned through it.

He sighed as he tossed it aside and took off his own coat, which he wrapped around me. Then he pulled me close to him and put one arm around me.

"B-b-but, aren't you c-c-cold?" I stuttered as I started to take off his coat and give it back to him.

"No, keep it. The cold doesn't bother me that much, and besides," he looked down at me, and his expression was nothing but concern, "you don't look like you're doing so well."

"I d-d-don't know w-what y-y-you're t-talking about. I'm f-f-fine," I protested.

"Sure you are," he said as he settled back against the cave wall. "Just try to go to sleep. The storm should be over by morning." I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. I did feel better sitting next to him, but I still felt like I was close to freezing to death. I wasn't about to tell him that, though.

The next morning I woke up, and sure enough, the storm was over. I hadn't slept well that night, just when I was about to fall asleep, I thought that I heard screaming, and that would keep me awake. I wasn't sure if Link heard it or not, but he hadn't said anything to me about it.

We started hiking up the mountain again, but neither of us was very talkative that morning. I had a bad feeling about something, but I wasn't sure what. Then we reached the village, and I knew.

It had been burned to the ground. The buildings were ashes, and the people were all dead. I didn't want to go any further than the outskirts of the destruction, but Link said he had to go and see if he could find any survivors, and I didn't want to be left by myself. Thankfully the temperature had gone up some, and I wasn't shivering too much, so I could talk without stuttering.

"Who do you think did this?" I asked quietly as we made our way through the ruined village's streets. I tried not to look at any of the bodies, but there were a lot of them.

"I don't know, but this happened recently. Probably last night," Link answered as he pointed at where smoke still rose from some of the buildings, "everything would have been completely covered in snow, and it's not."

We wandered through the village, but we didn't find any survivors. We did find something else though.

It the center of the village, a few lizalfos were arguing over some scraps of food that hadn't been burned. One of them wore armor, and he was bigger than the others. Link drew his sword and charged at them with a battle cry that left my ears ringing. I followed quickly behind him, and drew my own sword.

In just a few moments, the only lizalfo left was the one in armor. We stood a few feet away from him, and he faced us without moving. I was ready to run at him, but Link had other ideas.

"Why did you destroy this village?" he demanded. The lizalfo just glared at him, and its tongue flicked out like a snake's. I shivered under its burning gaze. "Answer me!" Link shouted as he jumped at the lizalfo. It tried to block him, but he knocked its sword out of its hand and held his sword across its throat. "Answer me!" he shouted again.

"We were ordered to," it answered. It raspy voice gave me chills.

"Orders from who?" Link screamed in its face.

"Do you really have to ask? Lord Ganondorf of course," it turned its gaze to me and then said, "He sends special greetings to you, lady."

That was too much for Link. He slashed at the lizalfo with his sword, and it fell to the ground with its head a few feet away. Then he sheathed his sword and came back to me.

"Let's go. We won't find anything else here." I followed him quietly out of the village, and we headed down the mountain again. When we reached the base of the mountain, we found the small settlement there in ruins as well. We searched it, but there was nothing left, no survivors or lizalfos.

We found Epona a few miles away from the settlement, which was where we had left her. We rode back towards the castle, and every village that we passed had been attacked. Some weren't destroyed, but most were.

When we got to Castle Town, we weren't prepared for the chaos that had taken over the streets. Ganondorf hadn't sent anything to attack here yet, but most survivors of the destroyed villages had come here for protection. We saw children who had been orphaned, people who had lost everything, and more pain than I had ever seen.

The castle was overcrowded with people who had lost their homes. We couldn't find Zelda or King Daltus anywhere, but they had to know what was going on by now. Link and I decided to leave them to whatever work that they were doing. They had bigger issues to deal with, and so did we.

We left Castle Town and headed towards the Gerudo Desert. It was time that we paid the Dark Lord a visit.

_Should every living thing have a life to give?_

_Will every little child have a place to live?_

_Does anybody feel just a little bit scared?_

_Isn't it about time everybody cared?_

_The world's gone crazy_

_Song Lyrics: "Don't Drop That Bomb on Me" by Bryan Adams_


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

Ganondorf's castle was huge, with dark towers and sharp angles reaching high up. The whole structure reeked of evil power. I was starting to wonder if it had been such a good idea to come here.

Link walked cautiously through the halls, and I followed close behind him. I felt like we were being watched, and I kept turning around to see if something was following us. It was probably the sixth or seventh time that I had looked over my shoulder, when I saw a shadow disappear around a corner. I gasped and turned to tell Link, but he was gone.

_Oh, nice job, Lya_, I thought, _now you're all by yourself, and there's something waiting for you around that corner…I shouldn't go back there, but…I need to know what that was._

And so, my infinite curiosity once again got the best of me, and I headed back to where I had seen the shadow go around the corner. I stayed close to the wall, and peeked around the corner. There was nothing there. I sighed and decided to go find Link.

I turned around and came face to face with Ganondorf himself.

"You can't keep me here!" I shouted as Ganondorf locked me in a small cell in the corner of a large room. There was a piano against one wall, and the whole room just had a gloomy feeling. "Link will come to rescue me!"

"I'm counting on it," Ganondorf said as he started playing the piano. _Creepy music_, I thought with a shiver, _Link, hurry up and get me out of here…_ In the meantime, I tested the strength of the bars of my cell. Ganondorf noticed me pulling at them and laughed. "Don't waste your energy. You won't break out of there." I sat back and glared at him through the bars. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" he asked.

"Curious about what?" I asked sharply. The way he was looking at me made me feel sick.

"How you got here," he smirked at me. I just stared blankly at him. "You've been trying to figure it out, but you couldn't find anyone who knew anything about that portal." He turned back to the piano and played more of his music that sounded like the soundtrack to a really cheesy horror movie.

"What do you know about that?" I was afraid that I already knew the answer to my question, but I had to know.

He threw his head back and laughed loudly. Now I really felt sick. "I know," he laughed more, "I know everything about that!" He stopped playing and stood up. He came over to my little prison cell and leered in at me. "I was the one who ordered the lizalfos to go through the portal and destroy anything they found. Of course, they didn't follow my orders the way that I planned. They decided to wander through the forest and terrorize everyone before they destroyed anything. And they left the portal unguarded. But don't worry; they were punished for disobeying me. Your world is safe. For now."

"'For now,' what's that supposed to mean?" my voice quavered as I asked this.

"It means you had better do exactly as I say if you want to keep your world safe."

I looked away and closed my eyes. I didn't really have much back on Earth that I felt was worth anything to me, but I had my friends. I still wasn't sure what had happened to Steven, but there was a good chance that he was okay, and I knew that Hannah was still there. I couldn't let anything happen to them.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked quietly.

"You will help me to get rid of your hero, Link."

"What? No!" I cried out, "Anything but that!"

Ganondorf opened the door to the cell and stood over me. "You will do it, or you can watch your old world go up in flames, just like that village in the mountains," he said menacingly. "And just like the rest of Hyrule. It will all burn, if you don't do this."

I looked up at him, my eyes full of fear. _I can't let him destroy all of those lives_, I thought, _but I can't help him get rid of Link. Oh, what am I supposed to do?_

_It's one life or thousands, no, millions if he goes to Earth too. I have to…_

_But, I can't betray Link._

"No." I stood up and glared at him. "No, I won't do it."

He looked down at me with an amused expression. "Why don't you think about it for a little bit? I'll hold off the attack on your world for a while. In the meantime, you should consider what your options are. One life or many." He walked out of the cell and slammed the door behind him, then left the room.

A few minutes later, a man in a full suit of armor came and stood in the center of the room. I just sat in the corner and watched him, but he didn't move again. It was probably close to half an hour later when Link burst through one of the doors.

The guy in the armor charged at him and they fought for a while before Link finally beat him. I wasn't really paying attention, but when the door of the cell opened I was out of there like a shot. I grabbed Link by the hand and ran out of the Ganondorf's castle.

We were out the door and quite a ways away when Link finally got me to stop.

"Whoa! Hold on! What's wrong?" He made me turn and face him. "What happened back there?"

"I…" I wanted to tell him, and I was about to, when Ganondorf's voice forced its way into my mind. _Tell him what I said and I'll make sure that everyone you ever met will suffer greatly, in Hyrule and your world._ I gasped and clapped my hands over my ears, trying to block out his voice, but that was impossible. _You will go back to that little village and observe everything about him. Then you will report back to me._ I fell to my knees with my hands still over my ears. I felt like I couldn't breathe. _Don't try to fight it, you have no choice._

Then his voice was gone, and I could breathe again.

"Lya! Lya!" Link was shaking me and calling my name over and over again. I looked up at him and saw how worried he was. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know."

He tried to help me stand up, but I couldn't, so he ended up carrying me. I had started shivering uncontrollably, and tears were streaming down my face. _Why is this happening?_

_I'm the voice inside your head you refuse to hear,_

_I'm the face that you have to face, mirroring your stare,_

_I'm what's left, I'm what's right, I'm the enemy,_

_I'm the hand that'll take you down, bring you to your knees_

_Song Lyrics: "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters_


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_He looks at me,_

_I fake a smile so he won't see,_

_What I want and I need,_

_And everything that we should be_

It takes close to two days to travel from Ganondorf's castle to the village where Link's grandmother lived. The events that had happened had terrified me so much that I would have run as far away from Link as possible, to protect him. Unfortunately, he was still carrying me, so I couldn't get away.

"You can put me down, I can walk," I tried to make my voice steady, but I ended up sounding hysterical.

Link looked down at me, then shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea yet. But now that you can talk, why don't you tell me what happened back there." I wanted to, so badly, but Ganondorf's threats still echoed through my head. I kept silent. "Fine, you don't have to tell me right now," his tone was still gentle, even though I could tell he was annoyed with me.

The sun was going down when I finally got Link to let me walk by myself, but he kept a hold of my arm at all times. It was like he knew I was going to try and run. After about a half hour of going on like that, I gave up on trying to get away from him and just trudged on with my head down.

We stopped in a clearing in a small forest for the night. Link kept trying to get me to tell him what had happened to me, but I refused to talk to him. _If I don't talk to him, and I avoid him, Ganondorf won't be able to use me to get any information about him_, I thought as I stared at the edge of the clearing.

"Lya," Link came and stood in front of me, "you need to tell me what happened back there." He looked into my eyes and I saw how irritated he was. But that wasn't all, he looked really worried. "Look, I wouldn't bother you about this so much, but you've hardly said anything to me since we left Ganondorf's castle, and that's not like you. You're usually talking nonstop."

I sighed and closed my eyes. _I have to tell him something, but what?_ I looked up at him and tried to think of something. _He'll know if I'm lying, but if I tell him the truth…maybe if I just tell him __part__ of the truth…_

"Ganondorf was the one that captured me."

"I figured that out on my own," he said as he looked down at me impatiently. "There's more to it than that." _Oh, great._

"Well, it was just … I don't know, he was … scarier than I imagined…" I tried to look innocent, like that was all that was wrong. Link just stared down at me skeptically.

"Why won't you just tell me?" he shouted and stormed off a few paces.

I stood up and screamed back at him, "_Because I can't!_" Then I turned and took off running as fast as I could through the forest. I made it pretty far before I had to stop and catch my breath. I was out of the forest and on the edge of a large field. I turned just in time to see Link coming towards me. I was sure that he was too far away to see me, so I hid behind some small bushes.

He stopped a few yards away from where I was hiding and looked around. "Lya, I know you're around here somewhere," he called out, "please, just come out and talk to me." I stayed as still as I could and didn't make a sound. After a few minutes he sighed and walked away.

I waited for what felt like a long time before I left my hiding spot. I looked up at the moon and tried not to cry. Then I started walking in the direction of the village. I knew it wasn't the best idea, but I thought that if I could get there before Link, I could lock myself in my room and just avoid him until Ganondorf finally gave up on using me against Link.

The sun was just coming over the horizon when I walked into the village and made my way to Link's grandmother's house. She was sitting out on the little porch at the front of her house when I walked up.

"Oh dear, you look awful Lya. What's wrong?" she asked as I was about to go into the house.

"Nothing, I just need to get some sleep," I yawned and tried to act like nothing was bothering me. I went straight to my room and locked the door behind me.

I spent the whole day in my room. Around noon I heard Link come into the house. I could hear his grandmother saying something to him, but I couldn't understand what she said to him. A few minutes later, Link knocked on my door, and when I didn't answer he tried to open it, but it was still locked.

"Lya, I know you're in there." I didn't say anything. "Please, come out." I stared out the window. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you." I went and stood in front of the window and closed my eyes as a slight breeze blew into the room. "Lya, if something happened, you should tell me." I leaned out the window a little bit and looked up at the bright blue sky. It was the same shade as Link's eyes. _Don't start thinking things like that!_ I turned and stared at one of the walls. "Lya…" Link sighed and went away. I flopped down on my bed and continued staring at the wall.

Link came back several times throughout the rest of the day, but I never said anything to him. The next day we did the same thing. Every hour or so he came and tried to get me to say something to him. Every time I ignored him and tried not to give Ganondorf anything that he could use against Link.

That night, I was still lying on my bed staring at the wall when I heard a noise at my window. I turned and saw Link leaning through the window. He had climbed up to the second story of the house by using some of the vines that grew on that side of the house.

"I'm not leaving this room," I said stubbornly as I turned away from him and went back to staring at the wall.

He climbed all the way into my room and stood behind me. "You've got to be bored of staring at that wall by now," he said with a little bit of laughter. "Come on, I want to show you something."

I looked over my shoulder at him, and saw he was smiling encouragingly. "But-"

"We can climb out the window so no one will know that you stopped being stubborn for one night." He grinned as he held out his hand. I hesitated and looked away. "Since when were you one to turn down an adventure?"

"Never!" I exclaimed as I jumped up and turned to face him.

"Well come on then!"

A few minutes later we were running out of the village towards the river.

_So I drive home alone,_

_As I turn out the light,_

_I'll put his picture down,_

_And maybe get some sleep tonight_

_Song Lyrics: "Teardrops on my Guitar" by Taylor Swift_


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_I wandered through fiction to look for the truth,_

_Buried beneath all the lies,_

_And I stood at a distance,_

_To feel who you are,_

_Hiding myself in your eyes_

We followed along the river to where a waterfall that cascaded down hundreds of feet from the cliffs above. It was absolutely beautiful, and I gasped as I looked up at it. Even though the sun had gone down, we could see everything perfectly because of the moonlight. But that wasn't all. The river and waterfall seemed to be glowing with some sort of inner light.

Link took my hand and led me to the edge of the river. I looked up at the full moon and felt mesmerized by the beautiful sight.

"I wanted you to see this," he whispered, "It's breath-taking, isn't it?"

"Yes," I whispered back, "it is." I turned to say something else to Link, but as soon as our eyes met, I couldn't remember what I was going to say. I realized how close we were standing, and Link was still holding my hand. Just then we heard music playing somewhere, it was too far away for us to hear it clearly, but it was a slow, romantic tune.

"Do you want to dance?" Link asked tentatively.

"I would love to," I said quietly, still looking into his eyes.

We stepped away from the edge of the river a little bit, and started slow dancing. I suddenly felt shy, and I could look him in the eyes for more than a few seconds. _Why do I feel so nervous?_ I thought. Link pulled me closer to him as the music got a little bit faster, and I felt even more nervous.

Just as Link was spinning me, I tripped and found myself falling face first into the river. Link tried to pull me back but we both ended up falling in. _I'm such a klutz! How do you trip while you're slow dancing?_ I swam up to the surface and gasped as my head came above the water. Link came up beside me gasping for air and laughing at the same time.

Thankfully, the current wasn't very strong at that part of the river, so we were able to get out with no problem. We sat at the edge of the river, keeping our feet in the water. Link was still laughing a little bit.

"It's not that funny," I said defensively. He turned to say something and instead laughed harder. I turned away quickly so he wouldn't see how embarrassed I felt. He stopped laughing and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," he turned me to face him but I kept my head down, "I'm sorry, but you should have seen your expression just then." I refused to look at him and jerked away. "Lya," he said gently as he made me turn towards him again, "hey, look at me." I jerked away again and kept my head down. Then he tilted my head back slowly until I was forced to look straight into his gorgeous blue eyes. Then he whispered "Please don't shut me out again. You've been doing it for the past two days. That's not what I want for us."

"Yeah, I guess that would mess up our friendship," I tried to keep my voice steady as I spoke. _Can he tell how nervous I feel right now?_ I thought as I realized how intently he was looking at me.

"Is that all we are? Just friends?" he asked quietly. I started to say something, but he leaned closer to me and before I knew what was happening, he was kissing me. He stopped and backed up quickly, saying "I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…but," he looked really flustered. I wanted to tell him it was okay, that I didn't mind, but I couldn't speak. No words would come out of my mouth, and I couldn't even finish a complete thought. I couldn't move, all I could do was stare at him. He was still talking, saying how sorry he was, and stuff like that, but I wasn't listening. "I … I'm just going to go. Yeah, um, bye," he started to walk off, but I finally found my voice.

"Wait!" I ran after him and caught up to him in a few strides. "Wait, Link, why," I stood in front of him and was about to look up at his face when I realized that that probably wasn't the best idea just yet, because I would probably freeze up again, so instead I looked over at the river. "Why did you just kiss me?" I couldn't keep my voice from wavering slightly as I asked.

"I just thought that … you should know … how I feel about you." My heart had been pounding pretty hard before, but now it felt like it was about to beat right out of my chest. "But it's okay if you don't feel the same way for me, I understand." He walked around me and started back towards the village.

"Who says I don't feel the same way?" I whispered. I thought he was too far away to have heard me, but he stopped and spun around. He practically ran back to me and took me by the shoulders.

"What did you just say?" This whole time I still hadn't looked at him. Now I did. "Did you just say…?" he seemed like he couldn't believe what I had said. I knew I had to say something, it was now or never.

"I feel the same way."

Link pulled me into a tight hug and didn't let me go for a long time. I felt completely content like that, and I relaxed against him. When he did let me go, we went back to the village holding hands.

_Hold on before it's too late,_

_We'll run 'til we leave this behind,_

_Don't fall just be who you are,_

_It's all that we need in our lives_

_Song Lyrics: "Before It's Too Late" by Goo Goo Dolls_


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_He was a skater boy,_

_She said, "See you later boy,"_

_He wasn't good enough for her,_

_She had a pretty face,_

_But her head was up in space,_

_She needed to come back down to earth_

I woke up to a bright and sunny morning, and sat up with a jolt._ That was the best dream I've ever had,_ I thought as I glanced out the window, _but that would never happen in real life_. I stood up and got dressed. When I was about to leave my room, I happened to look over at the nightstand next to my bed. Lying on it was a dark red rose. I walked over to it and picked it up. As I spun it gently in my hands, I realized that it looked just like the one that Link had given me in my dream. Towards the end of my dream, when we had snuck back into the village, Link had taken one of the roses from his grandmother's garden. It had looked just like the one that I was holding now.

Then it hit me. _It wasn't a dream!_ I nearly dropped the rose as I recalled every detail from the past night. I couldn't believe it, and just as I was about to pinch myself to make sure that I was still awake when someone knocked at my door.

"Lya, are you awake yet?" Now I did drop the rose. It was Link. "We have to get to the castle soon, or Zelda will be really mad at us." I picked up the rose quickly and set it back on my nightstand before opening the door. "Hey sleepyhead, it's about time you woke up," he said with a warm smile. Then he leaned down and kissed me lightly on the cheek before turning and heading back downstairs. "C'mon, we can eat breakfast at the castle."

I followed him downstairs and outside, where he had Epona ready, and we rode to the castle. On the way there, I realized that if Zelda found out what had happened last night, she would probably kill me. _Well bring it on_, I thought to myself, _she can try anything she wants; she won't get me to give up Link_.

"Hey Lya?" Link said over his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," I said, "What is it?"

"Why are you and Zelda always bickering?" _Oh shoot, I thought he hadn't noticed…_ "I can tell you both try to keep me from finding out about it, but I can tell that you don't really like each other, and I was just wondering why."

"Well … um…" he turned and looked straight at me, like he knew I was trying to think of something else to tell him instead of the truth. Whenever he gave me that look I couldn't tell him anything but the truth. "When we're arguing and stuff, it's usually about … you …" I said hesitatingly.

"Me?" he asked in a slightly confused tone, "that doesn't make any sense. Zelda has no reason to argue with you about me."

I gave him a skeptical look. "You honestly believe that? I think she might be in love with you. She certainly acts possessive of you." Link's face went blank for a moment, so I continued. "Whenever I'm near you, she gives me these warning looks, and when I'm not with you she says things like 'you'd better stay away from him' and things like that."

Link kept his expression blank for a few more seconds, then he starting laughing so hard he almost fell off Epona.

"What's so funny?" I asked in confusion.

"I just can't believe that after all this time, she finally changed her mind about me," he stopped laughing and looked back at me, "a while ago, I tried to get her to go out with me, but she turned me down without a second thought. She said I wasn't good enough for her and that she would never be able to be with someone like me, but she still wanted to be my friend."

All of a sudden I felt sick. _He used to like her, and he probably still does, she's beautiful. When we get to the castle he'll probably go right up to her and tell her how he feels and he'll forget about me. Of course he will, she's a princess, and I'm just a girl who got lost and can't get home (not that I want to)._

"Hey," Link said softly as he looked at my expression, "just because I used to like her doesn't mean I still do." Is it really that easy to tell what I'm thinking? "Now I think of her as just a friend. You're the one that I want to be with." I looked up at him and smiled.

"Really?" Instead of saying anything, he kissed me gently on the lips and turned to face forward again.

When we got to the castle, Zelda was waiting for us in the garden.

"What took you so long?" she demanded in her high pitched whine.

"We didn't get started as early as we thought we would," Link said as he flopped down of one of the benches. I sat next to him, and he put his arm around my shoulders.

When Zelda saw this, she nearly had a heart attack. I enjoyed every moment of her reaction, but then I realized that I should stop being so mean to her. The only reason that I did everything before was because we were both jealous of one another. I had no reason to be jealous of her now, so why should I keep torturing her? That didn't mean that I was going to act distant from Link while she was around. Far from it.

She managed to regain her composure after a few minutes, while Link and I just pretended like we didn't see her freaking out. Once she could look at us without getting a murderous look in her eyes, she politely asked Link if he would mind checking in the kitchen to see if our breakfast was ready yet. He nodded and stood up to leave.

"Play nice, you two," he said as he walked into the castle.

Zelda kept a sweet look on her face until she was sure he was far enough away. Then she turned and looked at me. I gulped and stood up slowly. _This is not going to be good…_

She walked towards me slowly and gave me a glare that made me feel like a small animal being stalked by a tiger. She came at me with her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched at her sides.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a tight voice.

"I don't know what you mean," I said innocently.

"Don't lie to me!" she shrieked, "Link is mine and you're trying to take him!" Before I could respond she dove at me and started pulling at my hair. She wasn't very creative in a fight. Her shrieking and screaming were doing more damage to me than she was by pulling my hair. I gave her a swift kick to the shin which made her let go of me and I backed up quickly out of her reach.

"Are you insane?" I screamed at her, "What the hell are you doing? I didn't do anything to you! It's not my fault that Link doesn't like you anymore!"

I was planning on running into the castle to get away from her, but she came at me again (she was still pretty fast, despite the fact that she was limping badly since I kicked her). I couldn't get away fast enough, and she caught me again. This time she wasn't pulling my hair.

As she tried to hit me in the face, I dodged to the left and she missed me. I backed up a little and looked at her. Clearly she had gone insane, so what was I supposed to do? She shrieked and came at me again. _Okay, now that's getting old._

"How could you do this?" she screamed in my face, "I love him! And now you're trying to steal him from me!"

"Last time I checked he didn't belong to anyone!" I shouted back. "And I happen to know that he used to like you, but you turned him down. So guess what, YOU DON'T HAVE RIGHTS TO HIM! Oh, there's something else you should know, too," I leaned even closer to her and whisper in a harsh tone "he likes someone else now."

"That's impossible! What makes you think he likes you?"

"Maybe because he KISSED me last night!"

She gasped and her eyes got huge, "You're LYING! He would never kiss you!"

"He did! And he told me that I'm the one he wants to be with now!"

I have no idea how to describe the sound that Zelda made when I said this. It was part gasp, part shriek, and part sob. Then she dove at me and started kicking and hitting me with all of her might. I didn't have much of a choice, so I kicked and hit her back. When Link walked into the garden a few moments later, he found us in an all-out brawl.

"What is wrong with you two?" he shouted as he pulled us apart.

We both jumped back and stared at each other. Zelda's hair was sticking out at almost every angle, and her dress was ripped a little bit. She had bruises on her face and arms, and her nose was bleeding a little bit. I imagined that I didn't look much better.

Link stared at both of us, waiting for an explanation. Zelda just glared at me through her hair, which was falling down over her face. It was clear she wasn't going to say anything, and I certainly wasn't going to. Link sighed and looked back and forth between the two of us for a few seconds, then he closed his eyes and pushed his hair back with one hand.

"Okay, I think I know why you were fighting. And let me just say this, I'm disappointed in both of you." Zelda and I both looked down in shame. "Now, I want an explanation from both of you. Once I have that, I'm taking Lya back to the village and you're both going to think about how juvenile your behavior has been." Zelda and I both started to protest, but he stopped us. "No, don't say anything yet. Zelda come with me, I want to hear your side of the story first. Lya, stay there." He turned and Zelda followed him out of the garden. She shot a triumphant look over her shoulder at me. I slumped down on one of the benches and waited for them to come back.

I looked up as Link came back into the garden a few minutes later. Zelda wasn't with him. I jumped up and started to try and explain everything, but he stopped me before I could say very much. Instead of letting me tell him what had happened, he led me out of the castle. We were at the fountain in Castle Town before he stopped.

"Link, let me –"

"Lya, don't worry about it," he looked down at me with a slightly amused expression. "And don't worry about Zelda anymore. She won't say anything to you about us. I explained everything to her."

"Wait, you 'explained everything to her'? How did you keep her from trying to kill me again?"

He sighed and looked back towards the castle. "She not as irrational as you might think." _Or she just doesn't want you to see her true colors…_

"Well don't you want to know what really happened when we were fighting?"

"Not really," he laughed a little bit as he said it. "I know we need to tell Zelda everything that happened at Ganondorf's castle, but I think we should wait for another day so she has time to relax. She seemed like she was in shock."

"Ya think?" I asked as I headed for the edge of Castle Town. I looked back at the castle before I had gotten too far, and I saw Zelda looking out one of the windows with a furious look on her face. I just smiled and waved at her, then I turned and walked out of Castle Town. _Victory is mine…_ I thought with a grin.

_Sorry girl but you missed out,_

_Well tough luck that boy's mine now,_

_We are more than just good friends,_

_This is how the story ends_

_Song Lyrics: "Sk8r Boi" by Avril Lavigne_


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_Send in your skeletons,_

_Sing as their bones go marching in again,_

_They need you buried deep,_

_The secrets that you keep are ever ready,_

_Are you ready?_

A few days after my fight with Zelda, I was helping Link's grandmother with some chores in and around the house. Link had gone to a village that was a few miles away to help some of the people there settle an argument.

I was out in the woods looking for some plants and things that she wanted for various recipes and other uses. There was one herb that I couldn't find at all. I was getting so frustrated, because I knew that it was one that she needed more that the others, and it didn't look like there was any on the edge of the forest.

So, me being the stupid, overconfident person that I am, I decided to go farther into the woods despite the fact that we weren't supposed to. Ganondorf's monsters hadn't been attacking as frequently, but there was always a chance that you might stumble across one when you least expected. I didn't have my sword or any other weapons with me, and that was a big mistake.

I had gone pretty far, and I knew that I was probably too far for anyone in the village to hear me if I called them. I kept going anyway.

A branch snapped behind me, and I spun around. Two lizalfos had come up behind me. I turned to run only to find that several more had encircled me. _Great job Lya_, I thought, _how are you going to get yourself out of this one?_ As I waited for one of them to attack me, another lizalfo came forward. This one was larger than the others, and it wore armor.

"Good afternoon, lady," it said as it came closer to me. I couldn't hide a shudder at the sound of its voice. "Lord Ganondorf has a message for you, would you be so kind as to accompany us back to his castle?" Its dry voice was dripping with sarcasm, like it knew that I would refuse. The propriety of its 'request' seemed very forced and awkward.

"Tell 'Lord Ganondorf' that I'm afraid I won't be able to make it today," I said in the same forced polite tone. I turned and tried to pass through the group of lizalfos blocking my path. They didn't move at all, just like I knew they wouldn't. I turned back to the leader. "I see no reason why I should have to go to his castle. Especially when I don't care what it is he has to say. So you tell him that if he has something to say, he can come down here and tell me," I declared stubbornly and waited for the lizalfo's response.

"That can be arranged," it hissed. It almost seemed amused as it turned and disappeared into the forest, with its band of cohorts following closely behind. Once they were out of sight, I turned and ran as fast as I could back towards the village.

I hadn't gotten more than twenty feet before Ganondorf appeared in front of me. I slid to a stop so quickly that I fell backwards and Ganondorf was standing over me. _Not good…_

"Hmph," he smirked down at me, "I see you're still trying to run from the inevitable. I suppose I should put it in perspective for you." He held his hand out to the side and an image appeared, like a TV screen. The image was of the cell that I had been locked in when Ganondorf had captured me, but now it had a new occupant.

"…Hannah?" I whispered as I looked at the image with wide eyes.

Ganondorf laughed and waved his hand, making the image disappear. "Your friend will continue to be my guest until you finish the task that I gave you. And if you hesitate any longer, well, let's just say that my … hospitality won't be as generous. If you still choose to deny it, then I will kill everyone from your planet, starting with her."

"Why," I still couldn't believe what he was saying, "are you doing this?"

"Because you seemed to need some convincing. I thought that it would have been more effective if I had both of your friends, but I couldn't find the other one. Apparently he is no longer on your planet, or anywhere in Hyrule," Ganondorf seemed a little uncertain as he said this, but he quickly regained his confident attitude. "The lizalfos probably killed him right before you used the portal to come to Hyrule."

I couldn't take anymore. I jumped up and dashed past Ganondorf, between the trees, and I kept running. I didn't even know which way I was going, and I didn't care. As I ran I heard Ganondorf's laughter echo through the trees behind me.

When I couldn't run anymore I collapsed. I was gasping for air and tears were streaming down my face. _This isn't fair!_

_No it's not_, Ganondorf's voice pushed its way into my mind_, but you don't have a choice. Now be a good girl and go back to the village. And don't even thing about trying to tell Link about this._

I stood up and headed back to the village. I hated every step that I took, but I knew that I had to. By the time I had gotten back to the village, you couldn't tell that I had been crying.

As I went up to the house, I saw Link sitting on the porch waiting for me. He stood up with a smile and walked over to give me a hug. As his arms encircled me, I heard Ganondorf's voice again.

_He trusts you so much, and you're going to stab him in the back. Such a shame, since I think he might be in love with you…_

I promised myself that when this was all over, I would make Ganondorf pay for everything that he'd put me through.

_In time or so I'm told,_

_I'm just another soul for sale, oh well,_

_The page is out of print, we are not permanent,_

_We're temporary, temporary,_

_Same old story_

_Song Lyrics: "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters_


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_Don't want your hand this time, I'll save myself,_

_Maybe I'll wake up for once,_

_Not tormented … daily defeated by you,_

_Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom_

_I stood in the middle of a large circular field that was surrounded by a combination of cliffs and high walls. There was only one entrance that I could see, and it was blocked off by some sort of force field. The ground in the field was rough, like a battle had been fought there recently. _

_I had smears of blood on my face and I had cuts and slashes all over me. My hair was wildly cascading down over my face, and I could barely see through it. I pushed it back away from my face with my left hand. In my right hand I held a sword. It had a beautiful design on the hilt and the upper part of the blade, which probably continued farther down, but I couldn't tell because the lower half was covered in blood._

_A sound, like someone laughing quietly, came from behind me. I spun around and saw Hannah standing behind me. I took a few steps backwards and tried to find a way out._

"_You can't get out," she said darkly. She took a few steps towards me and lifted the sword that she held. The last few rays of the setting sun reflected off of the blades clean and gleaming surface, which had remained unused in the battle that had been fought just a few moments earlier. "Stop fighting it."_

"_Why should I?" I shot back at her._

"_Because," her tone was menacing, and unlike anything I'd ever heard from her before. "I have him." She pulled someone out from behind a clump of bushes that was by the cliff. Grabbing a handful of their hair, she jerked their head up so I could see their face. Then she put her sword across their throat. "Will you really let him die for you?" _

"NO!" I screamed as I jerked up and nearly fell out of bed. I sat there gasping for a few seconds and then looked around trying to figure out where I was. After a little bit I realized that I was in my room at Link's grandmother's house. I tried to relax, but I was shaking so badly that I couldn't do anything but think about the dream I had just had. More like a nightmare.

The door creaked open and I had to fight back a scream. "Lya, are you alright?" Link leaned around the door just enough to see my face. "Hey," he said worriedly as he saw my face, "What's wrong?" He sat next to me and put his arm around me.

I started to tell him, but then I realized that I couldn't without telling about Ganondorf's threats from the day before. So instead I just broke into sobs and let him hold me.

"Hey, it's okay," he whispered soothingly, "it was just a dream."

"It's just that…" I looked up at him and felt instantly calmer, "it was so real…"

"Well it wasn't, so you don't have to worry about it," he smiled warmly and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay," he sighed and stood up to go back to his room. "G'night."

He closed my door softly, and I laid back down to try and go back to sleep.

The next morning, I went downstairs with a massive headache and an overall bad mood. I felt miserable from lack of sleep, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with the whole Ganondorf crisis. But of course, the Dark Lord couldn't leave me alone until after breakfast.

_Couldn't sleep?_ his voice cackled its way into my mind.

_Don't bother me_, I growled back at him, _I don't want to talk right now._

_You don't get to decide when you hear from me, _he snarled, _Now, I have an assignment for you today._

_I'm not your errand girl._

_Oh, but you are, or have you forgotten our little arrangement?_

_I never made an arrangement with you, you forced it on me._

_Never mind the details, _his voice took on a very commanding tone,_ I happen to know that Link will be traveling to a little village on the edge of the desert today. You need to make sure that he takes you with him. While you're there, you need to meet up with another of my agents._

_How will I know that they're your agent? _I asked sharply. _Are they going to be wearing a name tag or something? If not, then I highly doubt that I'll know it's them unless I go asking around. And I thought you didn't want anyone knowing that you're threatening me into serving you._

_I see your attitude is something that we're going to have to work on. Just get away from Link for a little while, and they will find you. Once they have, they'll give you further instructions. And you had better follow them, for your friend's sake._

I didn't bother with a response, and his voice faded away.

"Lya, are you listening to me?" Link sounded exasperated as he tried to get my attention.

"What? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"

"I said I'm going to a village that's on the edge of the desert today, but I think you should stay here."

"But I, no, I have to, er, I mean, why can't I come?" I stumbled over words as I tried to come up with a good protest.

"Because you look exhausted, and I know you didn't sleep well last night."

"Well, I feel fine now," I said quickly, "so there's no reason to leave me here."

Link considered me with a critical gaze, then sighed and looked away. "I just didn't want you to feel like you have to come. It's okay if you stay here for today."

"No, I'm coming."

Once we got to the village, it was easy for me to get away from Link. I felt awful about the whole thing, but I couldn't find a way out of it. I promised myself that I would, though. Link went off to talk to some of the villagers and see if any of them knew what was going on with Ganondorf, since they were the closest settlement to his castle. I wandered off through the narrow, twisting streets. Because of the village's location, there was a constant cloud of dust and sand in the air almost everywhere throughout the town.

I went around to a few little shops and vendors that were set up in the center of town. Every time I turned around I could have sworn that I saw someone standing off behind me a ways, but when I looked harder there was never anyone there. Then I came around a corner and found myself face to face with Hannah. But before I could say anything, the sand swirled up around her and she disappeared. I shook my head and scolded myself for being so jumpy. I was just seeing things.

When I had gotten a good distance away from Link, I noticed that someone was following me. They were covered from head to toe in billowing clothes that were the same color as the sand that surrounded the village and blew through the air. All that was visible of the person was their eyes. They jerked their head in a gesture that I assumed meant that I should follow them. They led me down a small side street that turned out to be a dead end.

"Lord Ganondorf sends his regards, and these," they held out a somewhat large box to me.

"What's that?" I asked indignantly.

"Everything you need to complete your assignment."

_Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies_

_So I don't know what's real and what's not,_

_Always confusing the thoughts in my head,_

_So I can't trust myself anymore_

_Song Lyrics: "Going Under" by Evanescence_


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_Take a look around you; nothing's what it seems,_

_We're living in the broken home of hopes and dreams,_

_Let me be the first to shake a helping hand_

_Anybody brave enough to take a stand,_

_I've knocked on every door, on every dead end street,_

_Looking for forgiveness,_

_What's left to believe?_

Some clothes, a bit of makeup, a few herbs, and a note. That's all that was in the box. The clothes were like the robes that most of the desert villagers wore, the color of sand, which made it very easy to blend into the background. The makeup was for darkening my skin, and if I put them in a drink the herbs would temporarily change my eye color.

_Don't you think this is a bit melodramatic?_ I thought as I looked through everything. I wasn't expecting an answer, and I didn't get one. I pulled the note out and looked over the instructions. _Simple enough._

I tied my hair up and pulled the robes on over my clothes. After I used the makeup, and drank a cup of water with the herbs in it, I glanced at my reflection in one of the dirty windows of the building near me.

I looked like a completely different person. I could easily walk by anyone who knew me, and they would never recognize me. My light brown eyes had been darkened to black, and my skin was the same dark shade as most of the villagers'. With the robes covering the rest of me, you couldn't tell that I had my other clothes on underneath. I smiled at my reflection for just an instant, then went on my way.

My destination was a cavern that was a few miles away from the village. Normally it would have been a simple and quick walk, there was a strong wind blowing, and it just so happened to be blowing in the opposite direction that I had to go. _Great._

After fighting my way through the miniature sandstorm for what felt like days, I finally managed to get to the cavern. Once I got inside the entrance, I looked around and found myself at the end of a long tunnel. I cautiously made me way down it, keeping one hand on the concealed knife. After a few minutes, the tunnel ended in a large cave, with a ceiling so high that it was lost in darkness. The lower part of the room was lit with torches that were mounted on the wall at various intervals. The room was bare except for a stone dais that rose up in the center of the room. On it sat a deep blue stone.

The stone had strands of lighter blues and greens covering the surface. Its shape wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and neither was its size. Nothing about it would suggest that it was worth walking through a sandstorm to find. I sighed and shook my head. If this was all Ganondorf would need me to do, then I didn't see a problem with it.

I started to walk up to the dais, but as I did, the walls shook, and the entrance to the tunnel behind me was suddenly blocked by a panel of stone that had slid in front of it.

"Oh, come on!" I shouted in frustration. "That's just not fair." I slumped against the wall and glared around the room. There was no way out that I could see. I jerked the note that had been in the box out of my pocket and glared down at it.

_Use the contents of this box to change your appearance. This will help you to sneak out of the village unnoticed. Go west out of the village and continue in that direction until you reach the desert cliffs. You will find an entrance to a cavern in the upper part of the cliffs. In the cavern there is supposed to be an item that the desert keeps safe. Acquire it and bring it to me._

That was it. No warning about how the door would close as soon as I entered the room. No tips for escape. Nothing.

I crumpled the note up and stuffed it back in my pocket, then looked around the room again. The stone kept drawing my attention, so I went over to study it closer.

There was absolutely nothing about it that made it seems so important that it needed security. _But still…there has to be a reason._ I reached out and lifted it off the dais and waited a few seconds. Nothing happened.

Then I heard a grinding sound, like stone sliding against stone, and I looked over at where the door was. It was still blocked. I turned around and found that another passage had opened on the other side of the room. _Interesting…_

I walked over to it without hesitation and tried to see the end of it, but it continued back to far for me to see. I took a few seconds to consider my options, and decided to see where it led.

At the end of this passage was another room, but this one was considerably smaller than the last. It only had one torch burning on the back wall, and it was bright enough to light the entire room. It the center of this room, was a short stone pedestal. Rising elegantly from this pedestal was a sword. It had gorgeous designs covering the hilt and almost all of the blade. There was an inscription on the wall behind it, but it was in an old dialect of Hylian that I didn't know how to read.

If I had been able to read it at that time, I probably wouldn't have pulled out the sword. But I couldn't read it. And I did pull out the sword.

As I held it up to the light to admire the gleaming blade, the ground started to shake, and the ceiling started to come down. I turned and ran as fast as I could back down the corridor, sword in hand. When I got back to the larger room, there was good news and bad news. The good news: the other door was open now. The bad news: I found myself facing a group of Stalfos, and they didn't look happy.

"Hey guys, I don't suppose you would mind letting me through?" I asked as I held the sword out in front of me, preparing for a fight. Not surprisingly, they didn't respond to what I said, and they charged at me. _Big mistake._

I leapt back and forth, slashing and lunging at all of them. In just a few moments they were all dead and I was back to running out of the collapsing cavern. I made it out just in time and stood panting just outside of the entrance, which looked no different that the surrounding cliffs.

When I finally looked out at the desert, I was prepared to be facing the sandstorm again, and I was shocked to find that it was gone, and there was no sign that it had ever been there in the first place. _Weird…_

I made it back to the village without incident (I hid the sword under my robe so none of the villagers would see it and ask where I had gotten it), and I spotted Link right away. He looked really worried, and he was searching everywhere for me. He asked everyone who he saw if they had seen me. I walked up to him with a slightly ashamed look on my face.

"Have you seen the girl who was with me?" he asked as I came up to him. _What?_ I gave him a blank stare. "She has light brown eyes, and a light tan. She has kind of the same hair color as you, and she's your height. Do you know where she went?" I just stared at him. _Why doesn't he recognize me?_ Then I realized that I still looked like one of the villagers.

I silently cursed my stupidity and shook my head in answer to his questions. When he turned to ask someone else if they had seen me I took off in the opposite direction. I found a young girl and paid her to tell Link that she had seen me leaving the village and heading back home. After I made sure that she told him, I left and started heading home.

At the first stream I came to I washed my face and took off the robe. I was about to leave it on the ground, but then I changed my mind and used it to wrap up the sword. I stuck the stone in my pocket with the note and started back home again.

Somehow I managed to get home without Link catching up with me, and I quickly hid the sword under my bed. Then I headed into the woods and waited.

I didn't have to wait long. A small band of lizalfos appeared in front of me and we stood glaring at each other for a while. I held out the stone to the leader.

"Take this to Ganondorf."

It didn't respond, just took the stone and went back into the woods.

_Mission accomplished, but not quite,_ I thought with a smirk as I wandered back home. _I wonder how long it'll take him to figure it out. _

_Oh, if there's one thing I hang onto,_

_That gets me through the night,_

_I ain't gonna do what I don't want to,_

_I'm gonna live my life_

_Lyrics: Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi_


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Too many shadows in my room,_

_Too many hours in this midnight,_

_Too many corners in my mind_

_So much to do to set my heart right_

Ganondorf had me do a few more "recovery missions," as he called them, where he sent me to find some seemingly worthless items. I wasn't sure why he was making me do this, but it was simple and didn't involve one doing any harm, so eventually I stopped complaining. As far as I knew I was doing everything perfectly, but I guess some things didn't measure up to his standards.

"You did something wrong," he snarled at me. It had been about three weeks since my first assignment from him, and it was the first time that I had been summoned to his castle. Usually he just used the mental link thing, which was highly disturbing, but it worked out as far as keeping everyone from getting suspicious.

"What do you mean?" I said in an annoyed tone. I had done everything he'd said completely by the book on every mission. Well, except for that first one … the sword was still hidden under my bed. But he couldn't know about that, could he?

"On your first mission!" he shouted as he jumped up with rage. "You did something wrong on your first mission!" Oh no, it _is_ about the sword … "You were supposed to bring me everything that you found in that cave! I needed everything, but you must have missed something!"

"Well maybe if I knew what you were looking for, I can tell you if I saw it or not," I said with a sharpness that I was almost too afraid to use. _What will he do if he finds out that I kept the sword?_

Ganondorf glared at me, then started pacing back and forth. He seemed to be debating over whether or not it was a good idea to tell me. "What did you see in the cavern? I want a detailed description of everything that was there," he demanded.

I sighed and looked away from him, imagining the large cavern that the stone had been in. "There were a few torches and the stone dais that was in the center of the room. That was all, the ceiling was too high for me to be able to see it, so I don't know if there was anything there."

Ganondorf stood glaring at me, then abruptly turned away. "Go back and find what you missed." Then he left the room.

_Well, this is just perfect, isn't it_, I thought as I headed out, _I have no idea what I'm going to do_.

It took me most of the day to get back to the desert cliffs where the cavern had been. Once I got there, I realized how stupid I had been. I had forgotten to tell him that it had collapsed, and there was no way for me to get back inside.

I sat down on the edge of the cliff, with my feet hanging off the edge, and watched the sun finish setting while I tried to think of something to do. When I couldn't think of anything to fix the situation, I let my thoughts wander, and soon found myself considering how messy my life had gotten again. I was leading a double life, or at least, that's what everyone would think if they ever found out. Ganondorf had me trapped, and I had practically let him do. Oh, sure, he had one of my best friends, but if I was really a good friend, I would have tried to rescue her by now. And here I was, sitting under the big sky while she was trapped in some cramped little cell. My life was falling apart, and I didn't think I was going to be able to put it back together.

I got so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realized how late it was getting, and the next time I looked up at the sky, the full moon was casting an eerie light over the wastelands before me.

I felt a bit uneasy as I saw shadows shifting and I decided to head back home. As I stood up, a flash of light caught my attention and I spun to find myself face to face with a man. Or at least, something that looked like a man…

He was dressed in sand colored robes similar to the villagers, but his looked more old-fashioned. He seemed to be glowing slightly in the moonlight, and I thought that I could see through him a little bit. It was almost like he was … no, I refuse to use the term 'ghost'.

"Please," he said in an accent that I hadn't heard before, "answer me truthfully. Are you the one that removed the sword from the cavern?"

I shivered as I looked at his face, which wasn't entirely clear, like when you take a picture of someone but it's not in focus. "Yes, that was me," I answered hesitatingly.

He sighed and relaxed some as he said, "Then you are the one that we've been waiting for."

"What do you mean? Who are you?" I asked. I knew that I should feel more uneasy than I did, but for some reason I wasn't.

"It's a long story," he said as he came and sat down close to where I had just been sitting. "But you deserve to know the truth about that sword."

Over the next half hour, he told me about the sword that I had found, and how it came to be in the cavern. Several hundred years before, someone had given the sword to a group of desert nomads and asked them to keep it safe until its owner came for it. In return, the sword would protect them and the desert from harm and keep darkness from entering it. When the nomads settled and built a village close to some of the neighboring kingdoms, Hyrule and a few others, a soldier was sent to find out the villagers secrets. He stole the sword and took it back to the kingdoms; they removed the stone that had been inlaid in the hilt. When the sword had been stolen, a series of plagues and diseases had swept across the desert and almost destroyed all life in the desert. When the soldier realized this, he returned the sword to the villagers and warned them that the kingdoms were planning on attacking them. The villagers went deeper into the desert and settled again where they were safe.

"We knew that it would be a long time before anyone found us again, but we didn't want to take the chance of anything else happening to the sword. You see, after a few months, we realized that because the stone had been removed, it had diminished the swords power somewhat. It was no longer able to keep darkness from seeping into the desert, but it was still able to protect our village from harm. We didn't know what to do. We couldn't risk leaving the sword in a vulnerable area where it could be stolen again, but we had nowhere where it could be hidden. It was then that one of the children, playing up in these cliffs, found the cavern. We had to carve out the passage and chamber that were for the sword, but the main chamber didn't need much work, and we decided to leave the stone there as a decoy for any unrighteous ones who came to steal the sword. The second chamber would only be revealed to the one whom the sword was meant for. You."

I leaned back and looked up at the stars as I tried to take in everything that he had told me. "But what does that mean for me? Why was the sword meant for me?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know. All I know is that you should use the sword to battle the evil that is trying to take over this world. That is what it was meant to do. Now, I must leave you," he said as he stood and started walking up the trail in the cliffs.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I cried as I tried to catch up with him. "I still have questions, and, and, there's something you should know…"

He smiled and suddenly I could see him completely clearly. "You have to figure out the rest for yourself. I've done my job. I told you about the sword. Now it's time you did your part."

"You don't understand…I, I'm not … you must be mistaking me for someone else. I can't be the one that the sword was meant for."

"Were you the one who removed the sword?" I nodded. "Has the desert been destroyed?" I shook my head. "Then you are the one that it was meant for. Don't worry, all will become right in time." He turned and started walking away again.

"Well, will you at least tell me one thing?" He looked over his shoulder at me. "What's your name?"

"Verum," he said with a small smile, then he walked farther up the path and disappeared.

I stayed on the cliff side for a long time after he left, thinking about everything that had happened again. After some time, I finally realized what I had to do.

I was going to put my life back together and get my friend back.

_If I take my heart's advice,_

_I should assume it's still unsteady,_

_I am in repair,_

_I'm not together but I'm getting there_

_Lyrics: "In Repair" by John Mayer_


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_Stop there, and let me correct it,_

_I wanna live a life from a new perspective_

"_You can't get out," Hannah said darkly. She took a few steps towards me and lifted the sword that she held. The last few rays of the setting sun reflected off the blade's clean and gleaming surface, which had remained unused in the battle that had been fought just a few moments earlier. "Stop fighting it."_

"_Why should I?" I shot back at her._

"_Because," her tone was menacing, and unlike anything I'd ever heard from her before. "I have him." She pulled someone out from behind a clump of bushes that was by the cliff. Grabbing a handful of their hair, she jerked their head up so I could see their face. Then she put her sword across their throat. "Will you really let him die for you?"_

_I tried to hold back a gasp and I felt tears of shock coming to my eyes. "Hannah, let him go!"_

"_Why? So you can run away and forget about your __real__ friends? You've know me since we were little kids. How long have you known him? A few months, that's it. And who is it that you've chosen to stand by and try to protect? Your long time friend? No! You chose the _[insert insult here]_!"_

"_That's not true! I was trying to help you! I came back for you!" I cried._

"_Oh, is that so? Well that's not what I heard. You didn't feel like trying to help me anymore, so you left me to die! Fortunately, I made a deal, but unlike you, I plan to keep my bargain with Ganondorf. By killing him," she gave her captive a violent shake._

"_Lya…what does…she mean?" he asked in a pained whisper. We both turned to look at him. Neither of us had realized that he was still conscious._

"_You mean you didn't tell him?" she asked maliciously. "You didn't tell him that you were working for Ganondorf the whole time?" He cried out as she jerked him up so we could look each other in the eyes. "She betrayed you."_

"_No!"_

I gasped as I sat up in bed. After untangling myself from the sheets, which had become wrapped around me while I struggled during my dream, I went and sat by the window. Shivering, cold, and with a growing sense of dread, I jumped up again and went down the hall to Link's room. I hesitated before opening the door, but then I saw that a light was on, so I opened it and stood in the doorway. Link was sitting at his desk, with his back to me

"You're up late," he said, without looking up from his desk, which had some papers spread across it.

"So are you," I responded as I walked up to him.

"Where've you been all day?" he asked lightly.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I tried to dodge the question with "Oh, you know, here and there."

Link looked over at me, almost suspiciously as I smiled sweetly at him. I was trying to look innocent, but I guess it didn't work too well.

"You were gone all day, and you didn't get back until an hour ago. I looked everywhere for you. No one had seen you." He looked away from me, and I couldn't see his face as he added, "I was really worried." His tone surprised me; it was rough with emotion.

"Hey," I said moving next to him and kneeling down so that I could look up into his face, "you know better than to worry about me. I can take care of myself," I tried to smile reassuringly at him, but I couldn't quite do it. Something in his bright blue eyes made me want to tell him everything, but I couldn't. Not yet anyway.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but Lya, please, don't do that to me again. You have no idea how I felt when I couldn't find you." He looked down at me with such a loving expression, I hated myself for every even considering working for his archenemy, even though it was to save one of my best friends.

"Link, I …" I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and all of a sudden Ganondorf's voice drilled its way into my mind. I collapsed and I couldn't breathe.

_Oh no you don't! You're not going to tell him anything!_

_Yes I am! You can't control me anymore!_ I screamed back. I could hear Link calling my name frantically, but he sounded miles away. _I'm not your puppet anymore!_

_So be it. _He sounded almost smug as he withdrew.

I gasped and jerked up.

"Whoa! Easy!" Link gently pushed me back down so that I was lying flat on my back. "What happened?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure," I said, "but I'm okay now." As I stood up, Link kept an arm around my waist to support me.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he pulled me a bit closer to him. I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead and looked warmly down into my eyes. "Now, what were you saying before?"

"Hmm? Oh that. I need you to help me with something," I murmured as I closed my eyes.

"And what's that?"

"Well, you might think it's a bit unusual…"

_And who cares, divine intervention,_

_I wanna be praised from a new perspective,_

_But leaving now would be a good idea,_

_So catch me up, I'm getting out of here_

_Lyrics: "New Perspective" by Panic at the Disco_


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_I don't want to be,_

_Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately,_

_All I have to do,_

_Is think of me and I have peace of mind,_

Ganondorf's castle was even more dark and creepy than it had been the last time that I was there. As Link and I snuck down the hallways, I made sure that I stayed close to him so we didn't get separated like the last time we were there together.

"Lya, remind me again of where you got this information…" Link said as we rounded another gloomy corner.

"Well, it's…kind of complicated…" I said hesitatingly.

"Then how do you know it's true?"

"Trust me, Link, I know it's true. Ganondorf has at least one person here as a hostage," I whispered as we came up to an open door. There was a dim light illuminating a section of the hallway in front of the door, and as we looked into the room, I recognized the chamber where Ganondorf had kept me, and later Hannah, as prisoners. As I looked through the room, I realized that it was empty. The door to the little cell was hanging off of one of its hinges.

I gasped as I ran into the room and started looking through everything. _No! He can't have done it already!_ I thought, remembering Ganondorf's threat if I decided to go against him. There wasn't much to search, and in a few moments I knew that there was no way for me to know what he had done with Hannah.

I spun around and ran out of the room, dashing back the way we had come. _She has to be here somewhere! He just moved her, that's all._

"Lya, wait!" Link called as he tried to catch up to me. "Lya!"

I ran faster, ignoring Link's voice in my panicked state. _Where did he put her?_

When I finally stopped, I was gasping for breath and I fell to me knees for an instant. Before I could get back up Link was standing over me, trying to catch his breath, but not in as bad a state as I was.

"Okay, that was fun," he said sarcastically, "now you need to tell me what's really going on." I started to protest, to convince him that I had told him the truth (unfortunately I still hadn't told him everything, but I just couldn't bring myself to admit that I had been working for Ganondorf, even if it had been involuntary) but he stopped me, saying "Do NOT try to tell me that you got a tip from someone that there were some hostages here and you wanted to rescue them as soon as possible. I know that's not what happened. I want the truth. Now."

I tried to stand up and walk away, but Link held me down and forced me to look him in the eyes.

"Okay, I know that Ganondorf is holding someone hostage here because he told me so. It was a little while after he caught me that time we were here…"

"That long ago? Why didn't you tell me?" Link shouted as he straightened up and turned away from me. He ran his hand through his hair as he sighed in frustration, then added in a softer tone, "Lya, seriously, why didn't you just tell me? We could have had this fixed so much sooner."

I stood up and faced him, angry and tired of everything that kept happening to me. I didn't want to yell at him, but I couldn't help myself as I said, "I didn't know what else to do! I did what I thought was best in this situation!"

"You don't have to shout at me!" Link said, raising his voice, "But if you'd just stopped and thought for a minute when all of this started we might not be in this situation!" He turned away and muttered something.

"What did you say?" I demanded.

"Nothing," he retorted as he started back down the hallway.

"No, it wasn't 'nothing'. Tell me what you said!"

"Do you really want to know?" he spun around to face me, and as I caught sight of his enraged expression I wanted to run away, but I held my ground. "It was bad enough when I had to worry about everything that Ganondorf was doing to destroy Hyrule. But now I have to worry about you, what you're up to, and what you're not telling me! It's too much for me, Lya, having to keep fighting you for the truth. I can't keep doing this."

My voice quavered as I asked "What do you mean by that?"

Link sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. I just don't know," he turned and walked away from me. "Stay here and look for whoever's supposed to be here if you want. I'm going home."

I closed my eyes and turned to wander down another hallway as he left.

"Finally! I was starting to wonder if he was ever going to leave!" a voice behind me exclaimed. _No way…_

I spun around and cried out, "Hannah!" She stood somewhat stiffly by the door that I had just come through. "You're okay!" I started to give her a hug, but she moved away and gave me an icy glare. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said as she started pacing back and forth.

"Well," I said uneasily, "let's get out of here. I've got somewhere we can go where we'll be safe."

"No," she jumped back as I tried to pull her out of the room. "No, not yet."

"What do you mean?" I asked. _What's wrong with her?_

"I need you to do something for me first. I can't leave until you've done it." _Oh great, here we go again…_

_I'm tired of looking 'round rooms,_

_Wondering what I've got to do,_

_Or who I'm supposed to be,_

_I don't want to be anything other than me_

_Lyrics: "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw_


	22. Chapter 21

thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites!

Chapter 21

_I'm not the one who broke you,_

_I'm not the one you should fear,_

_We've got to move you darling,_

_I thought I lost you somewhere,_

_But you were never really ever there at all_

I trudged through the house up to my room, feeling better because I knew that Hannah was okay, but at the same time I felt miserable because of what Link had said to me earlier. When I passed him as I went up to my room, I couldn't bring myself to look at him, and I think he felt the same way.

As I opened the door to my room, I realized how tired I was. I closed my eyes and collapsed on my bed. _Just a few minutes, then I'll do what she wants me to._ I woke up a little while later, and I noticed that something was wrong. I couldn't figure out what it was, but I had this really weird feeling that something was missing. A quick search through all of my things didn't show anything missing.

With a quiet shriek I jumped off my bed crying out "No no no no no! It's not gone, it has to still be there!" I jerked a few things out from under my bed and looked in every possible place, but I finally had to admit it. The sword was gone. I let out a frustrated scream and slammed my fists against the floor. _Why? Why does stuff like this always happen?_

"Lya? What's going on?" I looked up and realized that I had left my door open, and Link was standing there, watching me freak out.

"Has anyone been in here?" I asked him frantically.

"No…" he said and looked away uneasily.

"Are you sure? Because something's missing," I stood up and spun in a circle, examining everything in the room again. "There has to be something here that will tell me who took it…" Link started to say something, but I cut him off, saying "Don't just stand there! Help me figure out what happened!"

"Maybe I could help you if you would tell me what's missing!" he said with a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"A sword. It has markings down the blade-"

"Blue-green diamonds, and it looks like something's missing from the hilt?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and raising one eyebrow, in a distinctly irritated expression.

"Yes, but how did you…wait, did you take it?" _I can't believe it! He took it…but why?_

"What? No, I didn't take it!" he said, his expression changing to disbelief. "You walked out with it a few hours ago. Said you needed to take it to someone to save their life, or something like that. I didn't bother asking you for details, since you looked pretty wasted, like you had no energy left, and you didn't seem like you wanted to talk anyway."

"What are you talking about? I've only been home for a few minutes. And I haven't left my room since I got here," I said, feeling stupid for accusing him of taking it. But still, what he was saying didn't make sense.

"No Lya, you've been home for about six hours, minus the one that you spent when you left to take that sword to whoever it was that needed it."

I looked out the window, and saw that it was pitch black outside. _Why didn't I notice that before?_ As I stood trying to figure out what had happened, a wave of dizziness came over me, and I started to fall.

"Lya!" I heard Link shout, right before I hit the floor.

I started to regain consciousness a while later. I couldn't figure out where I was, I felt like maybe someone was holding me, but I wasn't sure. _Why do I feel so weak? What's happening to me? _I shifted a little bit, and closed my eyes tighter. Memories were starting to come back to me, ones that I hadn't even realized that I was missing. _Oh god, what have I done?_

"_What do you need me to do?" I asked Hannah uneasily. She looked closely at me, narrowing her eyes and considering something._

"_You have the piece that the stone goes in, don't you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and looking closely at me._

"_Um…I don't know what you mean…" I looked away from her nervously, thinking of the sword in my room. It had a place in the hilt that looked like something was missing, and I had noticed that it was pretty much the same size as the stone that I had found in the cave with it._

"_Yes you do. I have the stone, but I need the other piece. What is it? A bow? A shield? Some kind of weapon?" She leaned towards me, making me feel like I was in an interrogation._

"_Well…"_

"_What is it?"_

"_A…sword."_

"_Lya, I need you to bring it to me. I can't leave here until I have it. I need to put the two pieces together. It's the only way that I can get out of here."_

"_No, I can't. It's too dangerous to bring it here with Ganondorf around. If he gets his hands on the sword, things will get very bad. I can't do that." I looked her straight in the eyes, and as I did, I noticed something strange. Her normally hazel eyes had tints of red in them, and as she got angrier, the red started to stand out more and more. "Hannah, maybe I should come back with Link, he'll know what to do."_

"_No!" she spun around and pinned me against the wall. "You can't bring him into this!"_

"_What the hell is wrong with you!" I gasped as she kept me pinned up against the wall._

_She bloodcurdling laugh and jabbed me with a syringe full of some sort of liquid. "Now, you'll do what I say."_

"Ah!" I jerked up into a sitting position. The good news – I was no longer being affected by whatever it was that Hannah had injected me with, and I remembered what had really happened. The bad news – I had just banged heads with Link.

"Oww!" we both cried out at the same time as we pulled apart a little bit.

"Ooh, that hurt," Link said as he rubbed his head. I looked up at him sheepishly and muttered an apology. "Okay, now lie still for a minute, I think you've been drugged, and it could still be affecting you." _Seriously? I had no idea._ "From what I can tell the drug that they used on you allows them to control you for several hours, and they gave you a pretty heavy dose of it. You need to take it easy for the rest of tonight, and preferably tomorrow too." He looked down at me, and he serious expression changed to a more lighthearted one as he added "Although I guess I should know better than to try and keep you down for more than a few hours."

I smiled a little, but I needed to explain to him how serious and important this was. He didn't understand what had happened with Hannah and the sword, actually, he didn't even know about Hannah. When I tried to explain it to him, he gently placed his hand over my mouth, silencing me as he leaned down to kiss me on my forehead.

"Lya, please, take a break from trying to fix everything for one night. Just one night, stay here with me and let me take care of you," he pulled me close against him and rested his head against mine. I closed my eyes and let him hold me for a while, before I finally pulled away.

"Link, I want to stay, but…I have to fix this one." My voice quavered as I stood up and said "I think I might have to do this one alone."

"What? Lya, whatever it is that you're caught up in, I'm not going to let you do it alone. I'm coming with you!" He said jumping up after me.

I turned away and closed my eyes tightly trying to hold back tears. Turning my head just enough to see him out of the corner of my eye, I hardened my voice and said, "I don't want your help. Now leave me alone!" _I don't want you to get hurt._

He stood stunned as I walked out. I left the house and ran out past the edge of the town. By the time I stopped, I was sobbing uncontrollably, and I couldn't believe what I had just done. _Oh Link, please forgive me…but I really do have to do this alone…_

_And I want to get free,_

_Talk to me,_

_I can fear you falling,_

_And I won't attempt to be,_

_All you need,_

_Somehow here is gone_

_Lyrics: "Here is Gone" by the Goo Goo Dolls_


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend,_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness,_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night,_

_Had I known how to save a life_

I wandered through different parts of Hyrule, getting as far away from the village and Link as I could. Standing quietly by a pond, I enjoyed the solitude until a smitten young couple, oblivious of my presence, came to confess their feelings for one another. I attempted to keep my thoughts from that one night by the waterfall, and I immediately left, feeling sorry for myself.

One night in the pouring down rain, I walked by a house that had the curtains open and glanced in on a small family laughing together next to a warm fire. I shivered as the rain soaked through my coat, chilling me to the bone, while I stood remembering the many fireside conversations that I had had with Link and his grandmother on nights like this.

There were many other events like this, sweet but painful memories constantly haunting me while I tried to run away. By the end of the third week, I felt absolutely miserable, but I refused to go back. That night I found myself a dry place to curl up in for sleep. It had been raining almost nonstop for a long time, and I think I had a cold, possibly and pneumonia, from being soaked all of the time. I fell into a restless sleep after a few minutes.

"_Lya!"_ I heard my name being called from somewhere far away. "_Lya, wake u_p!" I didn't respond, but I did open my eyes. Sitting up, I realized that I had no idea where I was. It wasn't the same place where I had fallen asleep, I was sure of that. Looking around, I took in the dark stone walls, the dry desert air, and the prison bars.

_Oh great…_ I stood up slowly, expecting Ganondorf to come sauntering into the room to gloat about his recent success, and how he had managed to capture me yet again. However, an hour passed and no one came there wasn't even a guard.

Walking closer to the bars, I realized that they were spaced slightly farther apart than the average cell. Because I had slimmed down so much from the weeks of travel without much food, I could probably slip through them without much difficulty.

I smiled as I slid through the space in the bars and made my way silently through the castle. At first I was just planning on going straight for the door, but then I remembered the sword. I started doing quick searches of all of the rooms that I came across.

It didn't occur to me to be wary because the castle seemed abandoned. I didn't stop to think about why everyone would have left. I was just concentrating on finding the sword and getting home. Throwing open the door at the end of a hallway, I found the sword lying in the middle of a mess of papers. I ran over to it and grabbed it, then gasped as I realized that the stone was also lying on the table under several papers.

After snatching up the stone, I ran out of the room and took off down the hallway. Sprinting down the stairs, I saw the huge front doors shut firmly, but not locked. Sliding to a stop, I grabbed one of the handles and pulled on it with all my might. It didn't budge.

_Oh no…_

I spun around and ran back into the middle of the castle. Once I reached one of the great halls, I spotted another door leading outside.

I was halfway across the room when the explosion happened.

It threw me I don't know how far, and I was knocked out for some time. When I came to, I was buried under a mountain of debris, and I could barely see anything because of the dim light filtering through the cracks. I could barely breathe, and when I put my hand on my side, it came away sticky and wet with blood. Gasping in pain, I tried to move, but I couldn't feel my legs.

I closed my eyes and relaxed. I whispered, "Link, I'm sorry about all this. I hope you can forgive me when you find out what happened. I tried to fix it, but I guess I just don't have the power." I hesitating before adding, "I'm sorry I never got to tell you this, but…I love you." I could almost feel him beside me for an instant, then I lost consciousness.

_Lay down a list of what is wrong,_

_The things you've told him all along,_

_And pray to God he hears you,_

_And pray to God he hears you_

_Lyrics: "How to Save a Life" by the Fray_


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors,_

_Leading you down into my core,_

_Where I've become so numb,_

_Without a soul, my spirit sleeping somewhere cold,_

_Until you find it there and lead it back home_

I regained consciousness, only to find that once again my surroundings had changed drastically. Standing slowly, I gazed around at the white walls that glowed with strands of red, green, and blue flowing through them. The floor and ceiling set off a soft white light, illuminating the three golden thrones that formed a triangle, all facing inwards, at the center of the room.

One throne had designs etched in red. A woman with jet black hair, wearing a tight fitting red dress and pieces of darker red armor, sat on this throne. She had a battle ax, with red designs engraved in the silver blade. Her face was a mask of cruel, sharp beauty, and she kept her gaze steadily on me as I looked at her.

The second throne had designs etched in green. The woman seated on this throne had brilliant red hair, and she wore a jade green dress, which showed off her lean, muscular body. She had a crown of ivy weaved through her hair, and her expression was hardened, tough, but her eyes showed kindness. When I looked at her she gave me a smile of encouragement.

The third throne had designs etched in blue. The woman her had dark brown hair, with a floor length, bright blue dress. When I looked at her face, I realized that we looked very similar. She looked down at me with an intent and observant expression.

"Wh-where am I?" I asked hesitatingly. The one in red sneered and tossed her head, ignoring my question. The one in blue continued looking coolly down at me.

"Lost soul," said the one in green, standing and walking towards me, "you who have tried to right the wrongs that you have committed, you called out for help in your last moments." She gestured to the other two and herself as she said, "We three, the Goddesses of Hyrule, have heard your plea."

"You….You're the Goddesses of Hyrule?" I asked dubiously. The woman in red rolled her eyes and looked bored, while the one in blue looked slightly disappointed.

"Yes," answered the one in green, "I am Farore, goddess of courage." She returned to her throne and nodded to the other two.

"I am Nayru," said the one in blue, standing and coming towards me, "goddess of wisdom." She seemed like she was about to say something else when she was cut off by the one in red.

"I am Din," she said snappishly, "goddess of power. You would do well to remember that." Nayru and Farore each gave her a slightly irritated glance, before turning back to me.

"But, I never called for help, so why am I here?" I asked, looking around at the three of them.

"The message that you whispered, as you lay dying, was enough to show that you were ready for help," Nayru said softly.

"Wait, _dying_? You mean, I _died_?" I shouted, jumping away from her.

"No, you didn't die, but you almost did," she said, as she walked back to her throne. "Let us show you." She made a motion with her hand, and I could see myself, lying under the remains of the castle. This was a lot like when Ganondorf had shown me where he was keeping Hannah hostage, but this time the image was much more vivid. I could see the blood all around me, and I heard my apology to Link. Then I saw myself lose consciousness, and my breathing slowed. When it had almost stopped, a flash of white light engulfed my body, and I disappeared.

"You were brought here, and we healed your wounds," said Farore.

"Well, thanks, but what am I supposed to do now?" I asked as I crossed my arms and looked at the images in front of me.

"That was three days ago," said Nayru, "There have been a lot of things happening since then."

"Things that were caused by your actions," Din added scornfully.

"What are you talking about," I asked, turning to look at her. I felt cold all of a sudden, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice over my head. She pointed at the image of the castle rubble, and I turned back to it. The scene changed to the cliffs overlooking Ganondorf's castle, and I saw Link looking down at the debris. He fell to his knees and screamed out "Lya!"

"It seems he heard your last words," Din said coldly. I didn't hear her; I was too absorbed in what I was seeing.

After calling my name a few more times, Link went down and tried to search the ruins for me, but he wasn't able to get very far, and he finally had to leave. His face was a mixture of heartbreaking grief and deadly fury. He took off back towards Hyrule Castle.

Again the scene changed, to the next day, and this time it was of the fields surrounding the castle. An army of Ganondorf's monsters were gathered, preparing for battle. I could see Ganondorf standing in front of them all, examining the ranks closest to him. He turned to the person next to him and said, "With Link grief stricken, and Lya dead, we're sure to have a victory at last!"

"Yes, Lord Ganondorf," Hannah responded tersely. She stood stiffly, like she didn't want to be there with the rest of them.

The image faded to one inside the castle, in the throne room. King Daltus sat listening to the reports of guards throughout the city. They seemed panicked as they told him of the forces gathered outside. Link stood off to one side looking miserable, and Zelda stood next to him. _Thank you, Zelda, even if you are just trying to cheer him up so that he'll fall in love with you_, I thought. Link jerked away from her abruptly and stalked across the room.

"King Daltus, we need to gather all of the soldiers and warriors that we can," Link said after a few seconds. "Tell them to prepare for battle, and tell them to," here his voice wavered, "tell them to spend a few moments with their loved ones … just in case." I fought back sobs as he said this over his shoulder as he left the room.

King Daltus looked sadly after him, then nodded to the guards and ordered them to distribute the message to everyone in Castle Town. Zelda went up to her father and they talked quietly about everything that was happening.

Once again the image changed to the next day. According to what Din, Nayru, and Farore had said, I was looking at the events of yesterday.

The two armies stood on opposite sides of the field, watching each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Link was marching back and forth before all of the knights, guards, and warriors that had been found in Castle Town. His voice rang out clear and strong to everyone gathered there.

"…and no matter what, remember that we are fighting not only for every man, woman, and child inside these walls," he pointed at Castle Town, "but for everyone throughout Hyrule. If we fail then there is nothing standing between them and those monstrous forces. We fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, and they're depending on us! So we cannot fail them! We will use our strengths against their weaknesses, and send them crawling back to the darkest depths where they belong!" He drew his sword and held it high above his head as everyone cheered. He looked back and forth at them all, then turned to face Ganondorf's forces. He closed his eyes and whispered, "This is for you, Lya." Then he opened his brilliant blue eyes and screamed a battle cry, leading the rest behind him straight towards the other side.

On the other side, Ganondorf ordered his monsters to attack, then teleported himself to a safe distance away so that he could watch the battle. _You coward…_

When the two armies met, there was the clash of swords, spears, knives, and every other weapon imaginable. Screams echoed through the air from both sides, and gallant heroes fell alongside ruthless monsters. I wanted to turn away, but I couldn't. For a while it seemed like the monsters were being beaten back, but the tides turned as the sun went down. Now they were outnumbering the soldiers by at least six to one, and they were advancing quickly. I tried to see through the darkness and find where Link was, but I couldn't see him anywhere. A knot formed inside my chest as I looked for him.

The image faded entirely, and none replaced it.

"Wait," I shouted at the goddesses, "what happened? Show me!"

Farore looked down at me sadly, "Many courageous warriors have fallen since this battle began. But they've managed to keep the attacks away from Castle Town, for now."

Nayru nodded, "They've displayed a wise strategy, keeping Ganondorf's forces occupied while they send messengers to others asking for help."

Din turned her icy gaze to me, "They have used all of their available power to beat back the forces, but it's not enough."

"Isn't there something that you can do?" I fell to my knees and bowed before them. "Please, anything, just don't let Ganondorf win!"

Din looked down at me, then stepped off of her throne and came to me. "Stand up." I looked up at her and saw that she was holding the sword. "We cannot do anything to help them, but you can."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. It's fitting, don't you think? You're the reason that this clash has happened in the first place. Your appearance here, and that of your friend, altered the balance of power in Hyrule."

"So you're saying that if we had never come, this wouldn't have happened?"

"Not necessarily, but it wouldn't have happened like this," Nayru said, "and when you worked for Ganondorf" I started to protest but she stopped me "however unwillingly, that changed things as well."

"So how can _**I**_ fix it?" I asked despairingly.

"You have the power needed to fix everything," Din said simply. She held the sword out to me, and I saw that the stone had been reattached to the hilt. "You see this? You did that." I looked up at her in disbelief. "You have a lot more power than you realize, you're just not ready to handle it yet. But we'll show you how to access a little bit of it." She held the sword out to me. "Use this to fight with. It was meant for the one who would plunge Hyrule into a bit chaos," a wry smile crossed her face, "but they would also be the one to repair the damage."

I took the sword from her and looked at it. _Repair the damage…_

"When the time comes, focus all of your energy on erasing the damage. That's all you need to do."

The other two came, and they stood around me, then they chanted something, and a blinding white light surrounded me. When I could see again, I was on the edge of the forest, looking out at the battlefield.

_All this time I can't believe I couldn't see,_

_Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me,_

_I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems,_

_Got to open my eyes to everything_

_Lyrics: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence_


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

_Hear the sound of the falling rain,_

_Coming down like an Armageddon flame,_

_The shame,_

_The ones who died without a name_

The battle raged on, although it was in an entirely different style now. Those who remained fighting to protect Castle Town were scattered throughout the field, taking shelter where they could, and using any tactics that they could think of in order to survive while holding back the monsters. Fires were slowly spreading from the flaming arrows that the monsters were shooting. The field was covered with blood and bodies.

I could feel rage building up inside of me, as I looked out at the remains of the battle. The sky darkened as a huge thunderstorm appeared. I looked up and held my arms out a bit as the rain started coming down in sheets. I breathed in deeply, and dashed at the closest group of monsters.

They never saw me coming, so it was easy to kill them. Once they were gone I ordered the soldiers that had been fighting them before to fall back closer to the castle. They just stared up at me shock and fear. I can't say that I blamed them, since I probably looked like some sort of witch, my hair frizzing out a bit from the rain, my eyes flaring, and the lightning from the storm illuminating the sky behind me.

When they took off, I went on to the next group of monsters. I went on like this for close to an hour, and I had sent a good portion of the remaining warriors back towards the castle, where they would have a few more places to hide while keeping back any monsters that got past the remaining soldiers. I also had a small group who had chosen to stay with me. We fought our way through the front line of Ganondorf's troops, and caught up with another group of our soldiers who had managed to do the same.

"You there!" I called out to the group, shouting to be heard above the storm, once we had killed the monsters surrounding us, "Who's in charge of your group?"

"I don't know ma'am," shouted back one of the soldiers, "originally Link was with us, but we lost track of him a while back, so we decided to just keep going."

I bit back a cry of despair. "Where's the last place that you remember seeing him?"

"Over by the cliffs close to the Castle wall!" someone shouted out.

I nodded, then turned to soldiers following me, "Go with them!" I ordered.

"But ma'am, you'll need someone to watch your back!" shouted one.

"I'll be fine! Go help them!" I turned and ran back towards the castle.

There was a section of the castle, which had a higher wall than the rest, which extended out beyond the town. Some cliffs, smaller than the ones in the desert, but still high, was very close to this wall, and it was the perfect place for someone to try and infiltrate the castle. By climbing up the cliffs, they would be able to get over to the wall, and climb over it.

I was running as fast as I could, which might not have been the best idea, because the combination of blood and rainwater covering the field made it extremely slippery. So when I came across a group of monsters, I tried to skid to a stop and ended up face first in the mud.

While I was struggling to get out of the mud _(Why does deep mud always suck you down and make it impossible to get up quickly when you're in a desperate situation?)_ they spread out and circled around me. There were two lizalfos, a few Stalfos, and a dark nut, all leering down at me.

"Well, this is awkward…"

I jerked my sword up and took a swing at one of the Stalfos. My aim was off, and I ended up hitting the dark nut instead, so my sword just bounced off of his armor. Now they were all glaring (and in the case of the lizalfos, snarling) at me.

"Look guys, I really don't have time for this, so if you don't mind, I would really like to be going," I said as I lunged at the Stalfos again. This time my aim was dead on, and it fell apart. Before I could turn and attack any of the other monsters, one of the lizalfos slashed me across the back with its sword. I couldn't hold back a scream, and I heard them all chuckle. I spun around and screamed in rage, about to swing my sword at it, when a bolt of lightning flashed and hit it dead on.

Before I could fully process what had happened, the rest of them had run off, screaming like little girls. _That was really pathetic._ I shook my head and started running again.

By the time I had reached the wall, I was feeling calmer, and my rage had faded. The storm had moved off, clearing the sky enough to let a few rays of the setting sun fall down on Hyrule. I hesitated, trying to decide where to go, when I saw a shadow flit across one of the spaces where the cliffs were very close to the wall. I gripped my sword tighter and ran through the opening. A force field appeared once I was on the other side, blocking any route to escape.

_I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies,_

_This is the dawning of the rest of our lives, _

_On holiday_

_Lyrics: "Holiday" by Greenday_


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

_Heaven's gates won't open up for me,_

_With these broken wings I'm fallin',_

_And all I see is you_

I stood in the middle of a large circular field that was surrounded by a combination of cliffs and high walls. There was only one entrance, which was blocked off by the force field that had just appeared. The ground in the field was rough, like a battle had been fought there recently.

I tried to ignore the pain from all of my wounds, which had become more numerous than I realized throughout the battles. My hair was wildly cascading down over my face, and I could barely see through it. I pushed it back away from my face with my left hand. In my right hand I kept a firm grip on the sword. The beautiful designs that covered the blade were barely visible, because it was covered in the blood of all of the monsters that I had killed.

A sound, like someone laughing quietly, came from behind me. I spun around and saw Hannah standing behind me. I took a few steps backwards and tried to find a way out.

"You can't get out," she said darkly. She took a few steps towards me and lifted the sword that she held. The last few rays of the setting sun reflected off of the blade's clean and gleaming surface, which had remained unused in the battle that was still going on, on the other side of the force field. "Stop fighting it."

"Why should I?" I shot back at her.

"Because," her tone was menacing, and unlike anything I'd ever heard from her before. "I have him." She pulled someone out from behind a clump of bushes that was by the cliff. Grabbing a handful of their hair, she jerked their head up so I could see their face. Then she put her sword across their throat. "Will you really let him die for you?"

I tried to hold back a gasp and I felt tears of shock coming to my eyes. "Hannah, let him go!"

"Why? So you can run away and forget about your real friends? You've know me since we were little kids. How long have you known him? A few months, that's it. And who is it that you've chosen to stand by and try to protect? Your long time friend? No! You chose this pathetic excuse of a hero!"

"That's not true! I was trying to help you! I came back for you!" I cried.

"Oh, is that so? Well that's not what I heard. You didn't feel like trying to help me anymore, so you left me to die! Fortunately, I made a deal, but unlike you, I plan to keep my bargain with Ganondorf. By killing him," she gave her captive a violent shake.

"Lya…what does…she mean?" he asked in a pained whisper. We both turned to look at him. Neither of us had realized that he was still conscious.

"You mean you didn't tell him?" she asked maliciously. "You didn't tell him that you were working for Ganondorf the whole time?" He cried out as she jerked him up so we could look each other in the eyes. "She betrayed you."

"No!" tears were streaming down my face as I looked into his eyes, "Link… I didn't… I didn't want to…" I couldn't keep myself from sobbing as I looked away, so I didn't have to see his expression. I couldn't speak above a whisper as I said, "I didn't have a choice…"

"That's one of the worst lies I've ever heard!" Hannah snarled. I turned to look at her with wide eyes, and saw her smirk at me. _She knows it's not true… she just wants to turn him against me… don't believe her, Link … please, don't believe her…_

"Lya…" his voice was weak, and he could barely talk, but he held his hand out to me. I felt like my heart was breaking all over again.

"She's not worth your devotion! She'll abandon you at the first chance she gets. I should know. It's what she did to me!" Hannah shouted at him as she gave another vicious tug to his hair.

"Hannah stop! You don't have to hurt him! Please, just let him go. I'll do whatever you want, I swear, just let him go," I tried to keep my voice strong, but it didn't work. She just gave me a triumphant look and shifted her grip on her sword.

"What I want is for you to regret not coming for me. What I want is to watch this stupid kingdom go up in flames and see you go with it. What I _want_ is to show the entire universe what _you really are_!" With that, she shoved Link down so that he fell flat on the ground, and she ran past me as I rushed over to Link. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw her pass through the force field, and climb over the castle wall. I didn't stop to consider the fact that she was moving faster than humanly possible.

"Link," I knelt down and gently moved him so that he was lying on his back instead of face down. His eyes were closed, and there was a thin line of blood where Hannah had held her sword, but when I looked closer I realized that it wasn't much more than a scratch.

"Lya," he kept his eyes closed, and I leaned closer to hear him better, "what was she talking about, bargaining with Ganondorf?"

I sighed softly and looked back towards the force field. I closed my eyes for a moment and wished that it would disappear so that I could get Link some help because I could tell that he was in bad shape, from whatever had happened earlier. When I opened my eyes, it was gone. _Did I do that? No, I couldn't have…_

"I promise I'll explain everything," I said as I pulled him to his feet, and let him lean on me for support, "but first, we need to get into the castle. I have a feeling things are about to get really messy in there." I started walking slowly, but Link held me back for a minute. I turned to look at him.

"I thought…" he looked at me disbelievingly, "I thought you had died, when Ganondorf's castle was destroyed…" He pushed my hair gently away from my face. "How did you get out?"

"How did you know I was there?" I asked as I tossed my head a little, and my hair fell back over my eyes. He laughed softly and brushed it back again.

"I just knew. Now, how did you get out before the explosion?" He looked down at me questioningly.

"I didn't," I chuckled at his confused expression, "the goddesses healed me after the explosion almost killed me. Then they sent me back here."

He just looked at me for a few seconds, then shook his head and started walking. "Alright fine, don't tell me."

"I'm being serious!"

"Sure you are." He sounded angry, but when I looked over at him I could see that he was smiling. His smile faded when we got past the entrance to the field and we saw what lay beyond.

There was no one left standing between Ganondorf's monsters and the castle, and they were all headed straight for it, ready to attack.

_Show me what it's like,_

_To be the last one standing,_

_Teach me wrong from right,_

_And I'll show you what I can be_

_Lyrics: "Savin' Me" by Nickelback_


	27. Chapter 26

ok, i won't be able to update for a few days, so i'll be nice and give you all two more chapters today :)

Chapter 26

_I remember when you used to be shy,_

_Yeah, once we were so fine, you and I, yeah_

_Why you gotta make it so hard on me?_

_It's hard on me_

We ran into Castle Town as fast as we could, and quickly made our way through the streets. Everywhere we looked the streets were empty, and an eerie half-light shone down on the buildings from the moon that was now rising. Coming to a stop before one of the houses, I shoved the door open and pulled Link inside. He was still very weak, and he had trouble keeping up with me. That's why I had brought him here.

"I want you to wait here," I told him as I watched him fall heavily into a chair. He started to protest, but I stopped him. "No, listen, I'm going up to the castle. That's where all of the attacks are focused right now, but pretty soon they're probably going to try to come after the townspeople. They'll need you here when that happens, to protect them. So you need to stay here and rest. I'll be fine." By this point my voice was shaking and I had to look away from him. "And, well, I really think that" _Please understand…_ "I need to do this" _I don't want you hurt anymore…_ "alone." _Don't argue with me Link._ "So, yeah, I'll be going now." I turned and started walking towards the door, when Link reached door and grabbed my hand.

"You can stay here a few minutes, can't you?" he asked softly. The look in his brilliant blue eyes was pleading.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." I pulled away and ran away too fast for him to catch me, and within a few minutes I was standing in front of the castle.

I slipped into the castle and snuck down the long dark corridors. _Where is everyone?_ I hadn't seen anyone or anything since entering the castle, which was wrong. Where were all of the refugees from the destroyed villages? And where were all of the monsters who had managed to get up to the castle? I was getting really freaked out by how empty everything was.

As I turned a corner, I screamed as I came face-to-face with … Zelda.

"What are _**you**_doing _here_?" she demanded after shrieking from running into me.

"I'm here to … repair the damage," I said, thinking back to my conversation with the goddesses. "Where is everyone that was here?"

"They all got out through the secret passages under the castle," she was staring at me like she was seeing a ghost. It took me a few seconds to remember that she thought I was dead. "How did you..."

"That's not important right now. Have you seen Hannah?" she gave me a blank look. I sighed. "The girl leading Ganondorf's monsters. She's a little taller than me, with long, light brown hair."

"Oh, her, I think she was headed up to the roof. I only caught a glimpse of her while I was looking for anyone who might have been left behind."

"Thanks!" I said as I took off running down the corridor again.

"Wait! I'll come with you! You could use someone to watch your back. I don't think Link could survive it if you died again." She gave me a slightly reproachful look, and I smiled in return.

We ran through the castle and were almost to the roof before we came across any monsters, and even then, there were only a few, but they had caused a lot of damage throughout the building. Countless rooms and hallways had been completely trashed when we had passed them. I could tell that Zelda was upset, but she couldn't do anything about it, so we had just kept going. But now that she had found the culprits, she really let loose. I was going to give her a hand, but by the time I felt like jumping in, she had already sent them all running away in fright.

"Nice going," I said, genuinely impressed, "I hope you saved some of that for our next fight, though." She just smiled and followed me out onto the roof.

When we reached the large balcony-style area that made up that section of the roof of the castle, we found Hannah and Ganondorf waiting for us. Zelda and I glanced at each other quickly, and before I could say anything she moved off towards Ganondorf. I guess she could tell that Hannah and I had some things to work out.

_Here goes nothing…_

I walked determinedly towards Hannah, with my head held high, and a fiery anger flashing in my eyes. When I was a few yards away from her I stopped and lifted my sword, looking her straight in the eyes. I felt sick at having to confront one of my best friends in this way, but at this point, I knew it had to be done.

_Life is like a mean machine,_

_It made a mess outta me,_

_It left me caught between,_

_Like an angry dream I was stranded,_

_I was stranded_

_Lyrics: "This is How a Heartbreaks" by Rob Thomas_


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

_Keep you in the dark,_

_You know they all pretend,_

_Keep you in the dark,_

_And so it all began_

Her eyes glittered with a wickedly cruel light, and she glared at me, with an expression that I couldn't quite name. One second she looked amused, the next furious, then confident, and after that uncertain. So many emotions fighting for attention, so many thoughts flashing behind her eyes. _Hannah, what's happened to you?_

I heard Ganondorf on the other side of the roof, talking to Zelda in what he thought was an alluring tone. I was about to turn and see what was happening when the sound of a hard slap echoed across the roof and Zelda's angry shriek "How dare you!" accompanied it. _She's fine._

I turned my full attention back to Hannah, and she still just glared at me. This was getting us absolutely no where, one of us had to say something, and it obviously wasn't going to be her.

"Look," I started, "I didn't abandon you –"

"LIAR!" she shouted and slashed at me with her sword. "Ganondorf told you that he would kill me if you didn't do what he said! And you turned your back on him! He would have killed me!"

"Why didn't he then?" I shouted back. I blocked another blow and rolled out of her reach. Things weren't sounding so good on the other side of the roof, but I couldn't help Zelda right then.

After firing off a string of rapid blows – some of which were dead on and impossible to block – Hannah jumped back a little bit, then responded to my question in a tight voice.

"He said I had potential. He told me with the right training, I could defeat you, make you suffer for leaving me behind. He didn't have the time to teach me everything, but I know enough. Now let's see what skills you've picked up over the months since you turned your back on me!" _Wait…months? What is she talking about?_

"Hannah, wait!" I brought my sword up quickly to block her swing. Her gaze slid up the blade of my sword, and focused on the stone set in the hilt.

"Well, what's this? You fixed it? That's quite impressive really … not that it'll help you. Your skills are no match for me." She swept her sword up in front of her in an elegant arc. "Let's see what you've learned!"

She jumped back again, but instead of coming at me with her sword, she thrust out her hand. A stream of bright orange flames erupted from her palm and shot towards me. I dodged out of the way, but not fast enough, and my hair ended up singed.

_Where did she learn that?_ I looked at her, my feelings of regret and hopefulness turning to anger and fear. This would not end well.

I turned and looked over my shoulder at Ganondorf and Zelda, but they were gone. I turned back to Hannah. Her expression was nothing but contempt.

"You're not even worth my time," she shook her head in disgust and dashed towards the edge of the roof.

"Wait!" I cried, running after her. I had almost reached her when she launched herself off the roof. I slid to a stop, watching her sail through the air. She somehow managed to land on one of the walls. She turned and looked up at me, and even though she was too far away for me to make out her features, I knew she was smirking. She turned and launched herself over the wall, out of my view.

I sat on the edge of the roof for a long time, completely worn out. I knew that I should go look for Zelda, but I didn't have the energy. When I finally felt strong enough to stand, I wandered through the castle, looking at all of the damage that Ganondorf's monsters had done. His assault on the people of Castle Town seemed to be over, and the survivors were slowly coming out of hiding to look for their friends and family.

As I left the castle, I could hear the keening cries of the unfortunate people who had found their loved ones, but not the way that they wanted to. King Daltus was working with some of the remaining castle guards to try and calm the people who were panicking. I made my way over to him slowly.

When he saw me, he raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What is it, Lya?" he sounded tired and he kept turning back to the group of townspeople near him, like he couldn't stand being interrupted while he was trying to help them.

"Sir, have you seen Zelda?" I asked quietly.

"Why, no, no I haven't, not for a few hours," he froze, then turned slowly so that he was facing me completely. "Please tell me that you know where she is," his voice was low and his tone was slightly panicked.

"I … I don't know, she was with me a while ago, but then she went to deal with Ganondorf while I fought with one of his …" I tried to think of a word to describe what Hannah had become in Ganondorf's army. Thankfully I didn't have to think about it for very long, since King Daltus interrupted my thoughts.

"Lya," his expression was like stone, cold and hard, emotionless, "I have something to ask you, I may be wrong about this, I pray to the goddesses that I am, but I must ask it all the same. There was a woman with Ganondorf, she seemed to be more … important than the rest of the creatures that attacked us. When they broke into castle town, she ran through the streets looking for someone, she attacked people, interrogating them in the middle of the street, asking them if they knew someone named Lya. Tell me honestly, what is your relationship to her?"

"She is, I mean, she was one of my best friends, from before I came to Hyrule. We knew each other for a very long time back on earth…"

"I see." King Daltus kept his cold expression as he studied me. "Tell me, Lya, how long has she been in Hyrule?"

"I don't know sir. I thought that it had been only a little over a month, or so, but now I'm not so sure. I think she's been here for a lot longer than what I was originally led to believe."

King Daltus nodded slowly, still considering me through solemn eyes. "And who was it that made you think that she'd been here for the shorter time? Was she the one who contacted you and let you know of her presence here?"

I hesitated before answering. "No sir, it wasn't her."

"Who then?" he asked. He kept his tone lightly inquisitive, not to demanding, but I knew that I had better answer, and answer truthfully. But I was taking too long. His expression darkened. "That's what I was afraid of. Come with me. Now."

He led me to one of the larger town houses, and when we entered I saw Link and several of the town officials in a heated argument. They stopped talking abruptly as we entered. I could feel all of the eyes in the room focused on me. Okay, so obviously I was the topic of their argument. That's exactly what I need right now, more hatred sent in my direction.

King Daltus took a seat in one of the empty chairs that encompassed the room. I was left standing in the middle of the ring of people. I tried to look at Link for comfort, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. Now I was really worried.

"Lya," King Daltus started, "I think it's time that you told us everything. No omissions, no lies, no deception of any kind. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." I nodded and stood quietly, trying to decide where to start.

"We're waiting," one of the women said icily. She had been shouting the loudest when we had come in. I had a feeling that she was dead set against me, and I had better watch how I phrased my story.

Speaking slowly at first, then gaining momentum as I got farther into my tale, I told them.

"The first time that I met Ganondorf was when Link and I when to his castle, after finding several villages burned to the ground. We were separated, and Ganondorf captured me. He told me that he wanted me to help him get rid of Link." Here I glanced up at Link, and he nodded a bit, encouraging me to continue. I could see that he still had hope that whatever it was they were saying about me was wrong.

"He wanted me to watch Link, get as much information on him as I could, then give that information to him so that he could use it against him. I refused, but when I left, Ganondorf somehow managed to create some kind of telepathic link to me, and he told me –"

"You see!" one of the men bellowed, "she has darkness in her! That's the only way that he could have –"

"Silence!" King Daltus commanded. When the man quieted, King Daltus turned back to me and nodded for me to continue.

"He told me that I had no choice but to help him, and that I couldn't tell anyone, or he would torture anyone that I'd ever met."

"That's why you locked yourself in your room for those two days," Link said softly. I glanced over at him, but he was looking down, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"After a couple of days I let life go back to normal. I went out into the woods, and Ganondorf was waiting for me. That's when he told me that he had Hannah."

"Hannah?" King Daltus looked confused.

"Yeah, my friend from earth, the one who was helping Ganondorf in the attack."

"Oh, she never said her name," one of the other officials said.

"Well, anyway, the next day Link and I went to one of the villages on the edge of the desert. Ganondorf had me meet one of his agents there, because he had an assignment for me." I stopped for a few seconds as I remembered something else that had happened while I was in the village, and now it made more sense.

"Lya?"

"Oh, sorry," I shook my head and continued. "I met up with who I was supposed to and," King Daltus held up his hand, stopping me.

"You're leaving something out," he didn't sound happy about having to remind me to tell them absolutely everything.

"Sorry, I didn't think it was important. I think I saw Hannah while I was there, but she disappeared. At the time I thought that I was imagining her being there, but now I think it probably was her." King Daltus nodded and told me to continue. I told them how I trekked across the desert to the cliffs, and how I went into the cavern to get the "item" that Ganondorf had sent me after. When I started to tell them about the sword, I hesitated again. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want to tell them about the sword either.

While I was silently debating with myself, my audience had started arguing amongst themselves again. By the time I started paying attention to them again, I realized that they were trying to decide whether or not they should execute me immediately or wait until Castle Town was repaired so that everyone could witness my death. Um, yeah. I don't think so.

"Hold on!" I exclaimed. "I haven't even finished my story! How can you decide to execute me if you've only heard half of what I have to say?"

"So you have more crimes to admit to?" one of them snarled at me.

"No! I mean, yes I did do a few other things but there's more to this than what I did wrong! What about what I've done to try and fix it?"

"Obviously it hasn't worked so it doesn't matter," another one of them snapped.

"But I –"

"I think it would be best if you remained silent while we discuss this matter, Lya," King Daltus said.

"No! I won't sit here meekly while you all decide my fate, and while Ganondorf and Hannah get farther and farther away! I'm going to go stop them. You all can sit here and debate over whether or not you still wanna kill me after I defeat them." I looked over at Link. "You're coming, right?" He didn't answer, just looked at me like he didn't know who I was. "Fine!" I screamed and started storming towards the door. A few people glanced nervously out the windows as another storm started to gather outside. I didn't pay any attention. "You know what I'm sick of? People who act like they care about what happens to this world. None of you do _anything_! Oh sure, when everything's all nice and pretty outside you go out and saunter around. You pretend to be leaders, and soldiers, and _heroes_," I spat out this last word with a glare in Link's direction. But when things go bad, you hide out while the _real_ heroes go fight your battles for you! Yeah, I'm a big part of this problem, but you know what, at least I'm trying to do something here! And you can be damn sure that I'm going to stop them or die trying!"

With that I threw the door open, just as a huge bolt of lightning thundered down and struck a few feet from the door. I didn't even flinch, but most of the people in the room cowered at the sight of me outlined by the storm that had returned. The only two who didn't try to hide in the corner when I looked back were Link and King Daltus.

I turned and ran out into the rain that had started pouring down again.

_I'm finished making sense,_

_Done pleading ignorance,_

_That whole defense_

_Lyrics: "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters_


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

_I must've dreamed a thousand dreams_

_Been haunted by a million screams_

_But I can hear the marching feet_

_They're moving into the street_

The thunder pounded over and over again, with a cadence that made me feel almost like I was listening to a band playing. The rain hitting the ground was like drums, and the lightning crackling down was like the guitars, accenting the beat set by the thunder and rain. It was just eerie, that's all I have to say about that. But at the time it matched my mood perfectly, so I didn't think about it too much.

I had run through the crowds of panicked people in Castle Town, and I was crossing the field where so many of Hyrule's finest warriors had fallen earlier. My rage kept building as I followed the trail that Ganondorf and his monsters had left. What right did he have to do this? To ruin all of these people's lives, to kill their loved ones, to destroy their homes … and to think, if things had played out a little differently … if I had been more willing to help him … I might have been right beside Hannah in this battle. I shivered as the freezing rain soaked through my clothes. I wanted to stop and think for a little while, but time was slipping by, and every second Ganondorf was getting farther away. _Just don't think about any of that stuff now, _I told myself_, fix this, then you can slow down and think about the way your life has spun out of control_. I gritted my teeth and kept running.

The trail was leading up into the mountains, towards that first village that had been burnt. I felt uneasy about being there, but I pushed my feelings aside and kept going. When I was about halfway up the mountain I caught up with the last stragglers in Ganondorf's army. I didn't feel like fighting my way through what remained of the monsters, so I hung back for a few minutes while they trudged up the path. When they were well out of sight I stepped out into the middle of the path and considered my options. I could either

turn around and go home (so not going to happen)

continue up the trail and battle my way through the hundreds of surviving monsters (definitely not the best idea, and quite exhausting as well) or

go rock climbing and see if I can get to the top without fighting anything (difficult, but not impossible)

I sighed as I looked up at the mountain side stretching up before me. It was covered in cracks and holes, ideal for climbing, but I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. I reached up for the first handholds that I saw and started up. About half an hour later I was close to the top, with maybe thirty feet left to climb. I found a place to rest for a few seconds and glanced down at the trail that I had climbed up from. It was so far down that it was hard to tell for certain, but I thought I saw a spot of green moving up the trail. _It's just your imagination_, I thought, shaking my head and looking back up at the ledge that I was trying to reach.

"Well, look who it is," Hannah smirked down at me from the top of the cliff. "I was wondering how long it would take you to get here." She reached down and offered me her hand, "Come on, I'll help you up."

"Yeah right!" I snarled as I tried to find another way to climb up where she couldn't reach me. "You're just going to shove me off so that I fall to my death."

"Not necessarily," she responded coolly. "I want you up here alive so that I can watch your face as you die." I looked up and saw an expression so full of utter and unkempt hate in her flashing orange eyes, it made me feel like I would almost rather fall than face her. _No, don't think like that, you have to face her; you have to fix everything that you ruined here._

As I thought this, I remembered the looks on everyone's faces as I had run out into the thunderstorm earlier. They had been petrified. Of me. That was something that had never happened before. I felt anger building up inside of me again. Why were they so scared of me when there were people like Ganondorf and Hannah roaming around? All of these thoughts gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush, and I scrambled up the last bits of the cliffs in a flash, jumping up and over Hannah at the last second.

I did a quick flip in mid air then landed behind her with my sword drawn. "I don't think so!" She spun and glared at me as she whipped her own sword out.

"Come on, Lya," she said as her voice took on the friendly tone that I recognized from before, "can't we all just get along?" she lunged at me after she said this, but I was waiting for it and I rolled out of the way.

"Like I'm really going to fall for that," I kept my voice even as we circled each other, searching for openings.

She slashed out again, and we crossed swords, but we sprang about quickly and kept circling. There wasn't any seriousness in this battle, at least, not yet.

"You look like you have something that you want to say," Hannah said in a light tone as she struck at me again. I was a little slow blocking her this time, and she managed to give me a shallow cut on my side.

I let my hair fall over my eyes for an instant while I thought about how I wanted to respond. "Why are you helping Ganondorf?" I asked as I took a few steps back and stared at her.

"I already told you, you abandoned me to die. He offered me a position in his armies and a way to get back at you after he saw how much potential that I had," she was trying to keep her tone even, but I could hear the slight quiver of anger in it.

"Hannah, I never abandoned you! I worked for Ganondorf all that time so that he wouldn't hurt you. When I stopped, I was going to save you before he killed you so that we could keep him from hurting anyone else!"

We crossed swords again and the rage that had been building up in me all day exploded in a flurry of quick and powerful moves that knocked Hannah back several yards where she fell hard on her side. My rage started to fade to desperation as I watched her slowly pull herself back up, in obvious pain. _Please believe me_, I thought, _please let there be something left of my old friend, enough to bring her back to her senses. Maybe I can still get her to turn against Ganondorf… _

I watched her face as I thought this, and she looked up at me with an expression that told me that she might not be completely lost, not yet.

"Lya …" she looked up at me with such a remorseful expression that I started towards her, keeping my sword down and holding my hand out to her.

"Hannah, he doesn't have control over you, you can fight back. You can keep him from winning. You know that he's wrong; I can see it in your eyes. I know you don't want-"

"SILENCE!" Ganondorf shouted as he appeared between us, holding his own sword up just inches from my face. "You are done here!" He lunged at me, and I would have ended up with a sword through my eye if a flash of orange fire hadn't smashed into his side, setting him slightly off balance. With his aim thrown off, he ended up giving me a nasty gash along my cheekbone, but that was it.

When he regained his balance a split second later I had dashed far enough away that he couldn't reach me with a simple move. He spun and looked at Hannah with a murderous rage. She just stood in shock, whether at what she had just done or what Ganondorf was about to do, I'll never know, because after that all hell broke loose.

I leapt in front of Hannah just as Ganondorf's sword came crashing down at her and Link appeared where the trail met the ledge that we were standing on and he was screaming my name and Hannah was screaming my name and I felt all of my strength disappearing and Ganondorf was laughing as I fell. But with the last scrap of energy I had, I held up my sword just in time to see the blue stone in the hilt turn blindingly white. And then everything was gone in a flash of that brilliant, pure white.

When I came to I was lying in the middle of the forest.

_Now did you read the news today?_

_They say the dangers gone away,_

_But I can see the fires still alight,_

_There burning into the night._

_Lyrics: "Land of Confusion" by Genesis_


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

_I dreamed I was missing,_

_You were so scared,_

_But no one would listen,_

'_Cause no one else cared_

I stood slowly and looked around me. There was no sign of anything unusual anywhere around, just trees and bushes and the usual forest sights. Nothing to give me a sign of where I was.

After a few seconds, everything that had just happened hit me like a ton of bricks, and I staggered backwards a bit. I looked around again, but this time for signs of Link, Hannah, and even Ganondorf (although I wasn't exactly thrilled at the possibility of finding him nearby). There was still nothing around that I could see, so I started walking slowly. I reached for my sword as an assurance that I still had something to protect myself with, but it was gone.

With a growing sense of dread I searched all around the clearing that I had woken up in, but my sword wasn't there. _No no no! What's going on? Where is it! I had it in my hand when I fell … when I fell…_ I looked up at the sky, but there were no cliffs anywhere in sight, not that I could see much, since the trees were so tall. _How did I end up here? Where the hell am I anyway? _

I started running blindly through the forest, crashing into bushes and trees and not caring that I was getting scratched and cut up from it. _Why does stuff like this always have to happen?_ I ran past the last of the trees and found myself standing at the edge of cliff overlooking Hyrule castle, and the field where the battle took place earlier. Except it didn't look like a battle had been fought there. It looked like it always had, green and open and clear, not a body or a bloodstain in sight. I just stood in shock looking down as people continued on with life like nothing was wrong.

"You've done well, young hero," a voice behind said. I turned slowly, still dazed by the peaceful scene below me. Behind me stood the three goddesses of Hyrule. They circled me, and Farore and Nayru had small, approving smiles, while Din looked a bit less angry than she had the last time I had seen her.

"What's happened here?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"You repaired the damage, young one," Farore said gently as she reached out to touch my shoulder but I backed away.

"Okay, that's good, but what does that mean, exactly?" I tried to keep the edge of panic out of my voice, but I didn't do a very good job of it.

"The battle that was fought here earlier has been erased, in a sense," Nayru started to explain. "All who perished during the battle have been returned to their families. This battle was a direct result of your interference, so when you used your power to repair Hyrule, time altered slightly, and the battle that you remember has never occurred for most of Hyrule's citizens. Very few remember seeing you at all."

"You mean…" my voice caught and I couldn't breathe.

"Brave soul, you have done a good service here," Farore smiled gently at me, "but you must realize that in order to erase the wrongs that occurred because of your deeds, your other actions had to be erased as well."

I choked back a sob and sank to the ground. "Then that means…"

"It might not be as bad as you think," Farore said.

"Indeed," Nayru added in quickly, "there are a few who still remember you, at least a bit."

I looked up at them with wide hopeful eyes, but their expressions weren't exactly reassuring, although they did try. "So you're saying that he'll remember me a little, but he won't remember everything?"

"It's unlikely, dear," Nayru responded.

Din stood watching me coolly, and when I looked over at her she held out my sword. "Take this, and try not to lose it again." I stood and bowed as I took it from her.

"Wait, the stone's gone from the hilt," I looked up at them in confusion, "Where is it?"

"Somewhere safe," they all said at the same time.

"You have a decision to make," Din said impatiently, "You can stay in Hyrule or you can leave, travel to other worlds," she started to say more but Nayru interrupted her.

"Not yet, she needs more time," she turned back to me and said "Lya, we can give you a day to make up your mind. At this time tomorrow, you will understand your choice. Please choose carefully. We will return to hear your answer."

"But-" before I could say anymore they disappeared. I sighed and looked at the castle, then my gaze drifted to the edge of the field, where I knew the village was just a little bit farther than I could see. I started walking.

The house looked the same as always, Link's grandmother sitting on the porch and Epona grazing peacefully in the yard. I took a deep breath and walked up to the door, smiling at Link's grandmother as I passed her. She just nodded and smiled back, so I assumed that she remembered me, at least a little bit.

When I got inside, Link was sitting at the table, looking over some old charts and maps. He looked up when I stood across from him and smiled a little.

"Hey, Lya. Is something wrong?" he asked as he saw my expression.

"No, nothing's wrong," I said quietly. "I'm just … tired, that's all." I turned towards the stairs and fought back tears. _He doesn't remember, he doesn't remember everything that happened between us, I can tell, that look on his face, it's just the one that one friend would give to another._

"Are you sure? You look upset…" he stood up and started to come closer.

"No, I'm fine," I ran up the stairs before he could say more.

I grabbed the few belongings that were in my room and then looked around one last time. I sighed and climbed out the window. I didn't want to have to explain to Link why I was leaving, or where I was going, because to be honest I wasn't really sure. When my feet touched the ground, I turned around and found Link's grandmother watching me.

"Leaving us?" she asked gently. I started shaking, trying to hold myself together, but I wasn't doing a very good job. She came over to me and gave me a quick hug. "Do what you think is best, dear. Everything will come out right. Now go on. I won't tell Link." I tried to thank her but I knew if I said anything I would started sobbing my eyes out, and I guess she knew that because she just patted my shoulder and went back up to the porch.

I ran into the woods and found myself somewhere that I could hide until the next day. I already knew my decision, and I wished that the goddesses would show up and give me my choice so that I didn't have to sit there and think about everything. As I sat there with my thoughts circling wildly around my head, I dozed off.

_Link stood in the doorway of my room, looking around like he didn't know what to do. He walked in slowly, waiting for me to pop up somewhere, but then he realized that that wasn't going to happen. He said down on my bed and closed his eyes sadly. A faint light glowed from under my bed, and he reached under to see what it was. When he held his hand up, the stone from my sword, the one that had been blue but was now the purest white, started glowing even brighter._

"_Lya…" he closed his eyes again briefly, and when he opened them his expression had changed completely. He had the look on his face that I had hoped to see before, but it had been missing earlier. "Lya…" he said again. He looked at the stone, then set it down lightly on my nightstand and practically ran from my room._

I jerked up into a sitting position and gasped. _Link… No, no second thoughts. You've made up your mind, and you're going to go through with it._

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done,_

_Help me leave behind some _

_Reasons to be missed_

_Lyrics: "Leave Out All the Rest" by Linkin Park_


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

_My eyes are open wide_

_By the way, I made it through the day_

_I watch the world outside_

_By the way, I'm leaving out today_

Hiding out in the woods for a whole day was not pleasant. It gave me the time to reflect on every single event that had happened in my life to lead me to this moment. I must say, it was a pretty weird list of stuff. But then again, nothing could really top the fact that I found the love of my life in a video game character who, let's face it, shouldn't even exist.

I sighed and started wandering slowly through the woods, letting my mind wander, trying to avoid any memories that were too painful to think about in my current mood. Before I could stop myself I was remembering the dream that I had had when I dozed off earlier. It had been sharp and clear, like my dreams about Hannah. _I wonder if it will ever happen_, I thought wistfully.

After walking for a few hours I ended up on the cliff where I had talked to the goddesses. The sun was just rising, and I realized that more time had passed than I had thought. I sat with my feet hanging off the edge and watched the castle and surrounding areas be highlighted by the sun as it came above the horizon.

"Lya." I turned and found King Daltus looking down at me.

"Sir," I started to jump to my feet but he gestured for me to stay where I was.

"It seems you were able to stop them," he said, and a fleeting smile crossed his face as I stared up at him in shock.

"You … you remember?"

"It would seem so. Although I'm sure there are a few things that I've forgotten." He looked fondly down at the fields and town, and finally out at the castle. "Not many know what this looked like a few days ago."

"Yeah, I noticed," I turned back to the sunrise and stared indifferently for a few moments. "So are you here to punish me for working for Ganondorf, like you all wanted to before?"

He threw his head back and let out a loud, booming laugh that made me jump. "Lya, as far as everyone else in Hyrule is concerned, it never happened, so I can't very well punish you for it, now can I?" I considered this for a few seconds, then nodded. "And besides, you did everything in your power to right your wrongs, and you succeeded. There's no reason to punish you, especially since I think you've been torturing yourself over some of the things that are out of your control."

I gave him a wry smile and stood, turning my back on the glittering, beautiful scene of Hyrule at sunrise. "King Daltus, will you do me a favor?" I asked, my voice tight.

He put a hand on my shoulder and nodded encouragingly. "Leaving us are you? You'll be missed."

"I think it's for the best. And besides, I doubt many people would miss me. It'll be easier if I'm not around to cause any more trouble."

"Lya, I can guarantee you that that's not true, but you must do what you think is right. If it makes you feel any better, there isn't a single person here that won't miss you-" I turned to stare at him skeptically "-even Zelda. To an extent." He laughed again as he turned to leave. "Just remember, you are always welcome here.

"Thank you, sir."

After he had been gone for a while, three figures appeared around me, and fixed me with their penetrating gazes.

"Your decision?" they asked in unison.

I raised my gaze to theirs and gave my answer.

_I've done the best I can_

_To make them realize_

_This is my life_

_I hope they understand_

_I'm not angry, I'm just saying_

_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance_

_**The End**_

_Lyrics: "Second Chance" by Shinedown_

The sequel to this story is in the Kingdom Hearts section, titled "Shades of Gray" if y'all are interested.

A/N June 17, 2011: Ok, I've decided to put up the next part of this story, but please be aware, it's written in a completely different style than this story. The title is _The Death of a Hero_. There will be more of an explanation in the beginning of that story as to why it is a bit different than this and _Shades of Gray_. So if you enjoyed this story and want to know what happens next, please go check out the next installment!


	32. Author's Note

Author's Note:

For anyone interested, there are several sequels to this story.

- The one that immediately follows it is over in the Kingdom Hearts section, titled _Shades of Gray_. There is a little bit of Zelda crossover in it, and Lya is one of the main characters, so if you want to know what happens when she leaves Hyrule, go check that out.

- Following that, the story heads back into the Zelda section with _The Death of a Hero_ and _The Return of a Hero_. I understand that they way that they are written doesn't appeal to everyone, and it is a very different writing style than this story (it would kind of have to be... I wrote it like two years before I even thought about starting _Lya's Story_). So that brings me to the third option...

- I've decided to rewrite _The Death/Return of a Hero,_ and try to make the entire series fit together better than it does right now. It will be written in a style more like _Lya's Story_, and some of the events will be changed. _**The Rise of a Hero**_ will be uploaded some time soon, so keep an eye out for it if you're interested.

~ M.L.A.


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